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According to the research of the Polish-Slovak team of experts, electromagnetic radiation with a frequency of 900 MHz can attract ticks. These small arachnids carry pathogens that can cause, among others, Lyme disease or tick-borne encephalitis. Does this mean that we should go to the woods and for a picnic without a phone at hand?
Why are there more and more ticks?
For decades, the range of many species of ticks has been widening in Europe and beyond. They are even found in the middle of large cities, where they wait for people and their pets in green areas.
Climate change and landscape transformation are primarily responsible for the increase in tick numbers. The latest research by the Polish-Slovak team shows, however, that electromagnetic radiation (EMF), which is becoming more and more common in the environment, may also be responsible for extending the range of ticks., the source of which are radio, television, mobile telephony stations and numerous mobile devices – informs the University of Life Sciences in Poznań.
What attracts ticks?
Many people do not part with their smartphones and other electronic devices almost around the clock. – Hardly anyone is aware of the fact that the EMF emitted by them is not indifferent to the body – emphasized in the information sent to PAP.
The latest scientific research has shown that the electromagnetic field also affects ticks, attracting them like a magnet. More interestingly, contamination with dangerous bacteria makes EMF even more attractive to ticks.
The results of the research on this subject have just been published in the specialist journal “Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases”. The first author of the work is Martyna Frątczak, a student of veterinary medicine at the University of Life Sciences in Poznań. Eight people from six scientific institutions were involved in its creation (the aforementioned University of Life Sciences in Poznań, University of Szczecin and University of Zielona Góra – on the Polish side, and Szafarika University, Technical University and Veterinary University in Kosice, Slovakia).
– The studied issue is extremely interdisciplinary, hence the cooperation of representatives of many disciplines was necessary: veterinarians, parasitologists, engineers – electricians and, finally, biologists who know advanced statistics – concluded Prof. Piotr Tryjanowski from the UPP.
The authors of the study examined how EMF influences the behavior of the common tick Ixodes ricinus, known primarily for the transmission of Lyme disease (caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia), but also rickettsial disease (caused by bacteria of the genus Rickettsia), or tick-borne encephalitis (caused by viruses). ). The conducted analyzes showed that ticks are actually attracted by radiation with a frequency of 900 MHz. This radiation length is standardly used in most mobile devices, including smartphones.
Even more surprisingly, ticks infected with bacteria of the genera Borrelia and Rickettsia are more likely to go towards EMF radiation, scientists report.
The influence of electromagnetic radiation on ticks
Why do ticks even react to electromagnetic radiation? Most likely, it is related to their magnetic sense – a sixth sense common in the animal world, which evolved in response to the Earth’s geomagnetic field forces. Artificial electromagnetic radiation may disturb this sense and increase the mobility of ticks. In addition, natural electromagnetic radiation – which is produced to some tiny degree by every living organism – is suspected to help ticks find the right host, the researchers suggest. It is unclear, however, how useful this could be, as ticks rely heavily on olfactory cues in their host selection, also detecting moisture, heat, and carbon dioxide of an incoming potential host.
The authors of the study themselves admit that another puzzle is the influence of bacteria carrying ticks on the response to electromagnetic radiation.
“It may seem absurd at first, but it’s worth noting that ticks have been co-evolving with their pathogens for thousands of years. Many tick pathogens can properly manipulate their hosts, altering their metabolism, fertility, and even influencing environmental preferences. Apparently, then, some of these factors influence the response of ticks to electromagnetic stimuli – making them even more likely than usual to target them than usual, they wrote.
– This is certainly bad news for people who do not part with their phone, even in the bosom of nature. But good for those who say that for a full rest it is worth leaving the phone at home or in the car, and enjoying the sound of trees and birds singing in the forest, not the sound of incoming messages, conclude the authors of the study.
This may interest you:
- What to do when a tick bites you?
- We debunk five myths about ticks
- What diseases can ticks transmit?
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