Vector-Borne Diseases

In this month's "Hot Topic," Elitza Theel, Ph.D., will be discussing laboratory utilization management, specifically for diagnostic testing for tick-borne diseases.

In this month’s “Hot Topic,” Elitza Theel, Ph.D., talks about Mayo Clinic Laboratories’ serologic and molecular testing for the identification of infection with dengue virus. Dengue virus poses a significant public health threat worldwide. Rapid and accurate identification of the infection enables directed monitoring of patients who may be at increased risk of developing hemorrhagic fever of dengue shock syndrome.

Elitza Theel, Ph.D., Director of the Infectious Diseases Serology Laboratory, discusses eastern equine encephalitis virus, which is spread via mosquito bite.

Blacklegged ticks (also known as deer ticks) are turning up more frequently in Minnesota, and so are the diseases they carry. Bobbi Pritt, a parasitologist in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, weighs in on the issue.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Asian longhorned tick has spread across nine states since it first appeared in the U.S. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, discusses the risks.

Now in its second year of a five-year initiative to better understand and detect arboviruses in Belize, the IMPACTS (Integrated Mayo Clinic Program for Arbovirus Community health education Training and Surveillance) project has expanded its focus to include tick-borne infections in addition to mosquito-borne diseases, like Zika and dengue. IMPACTS is a four-tiered project that is a joint effort with Mayo Clinic, the University of Notre Dame’s Eck Institute for Global Health, and the Belize Ministry of Health.

The Washington Post recently reported on hookworms burrowing into a teenager's skin during a trip to Florida. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services at Mayo Clinic, commented on the two main types of hookworm: human hookworms and animal, or "zoonotic," hookworms.

On a recent tick drag with Minnesota Department of Health researchers, Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, talked about testing for tick-borne diseases.

A Wisconsin woman has died of Rocky Mountain spotted fever in what Wisconsin health officials have confirmed is the first documented death from the infection in the state. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services at Mayo Clinic, advises what you should know about Rocky Mountain spotted fever and ticks.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, advises how to remove a tick quickly and correctly.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, recently spoke with the Post-Bulletin about Lyme disease and West Nile virus and how to avoid them this summer.

The "Mpls-St Paul" magazine article highlights Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Lab and Co-Director of Vector-Borne Diseases Lab Services in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Lab Medicine and Pathology, and her research on ticks and parasites.

Bobbi Pritt, M.D., spends her work hours identifying and diagnosing infectious diseases. In her free time, she celebrates their beauty by creating bug-related artwork and blogging about parasites.