Published July 31, 2025

In this episode of “Answers From the Lab,” host Bobbi Pritt, M.D., chair of the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic, is joined by Elitza Theel, Ph.D., director of the Infectious Diseases Serology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic, for a timely discussion on tick-borne diseases. Topics covered include:

• Observations from this year’s tick season as we approach the end of July — a peak month for tick-borne disease transmission — along with trends in reported tick-borne pathogens over the past two decades.
• Algorithms developed by Mayo Clinic to guide clinicians in selecting the right tests for tick-borne and mosquito-borne diseases.
• The emergence of rare and esoteric infections and the challenges posed by vectors that carry and transmit multiple pathogens in a single bite.
• Shotgun metagenomics’ growing role in the diagnosis of vector-borne infections.

Resources

Podcast episode

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Answers from the Lab is a Mayo Clinic Laboratories curated podcast sharing knowledge and advancements regarding the state of testing, laboratory science, and the people who make it all happen behind the scenes.