Skip main navigation

Military Health System

Clear Your Browser Cache

This website has recently undergone changes. Users finding unexpected concerns may care to clear their browser's cache to ensure a seamless experience.

Notice to Readers: Vector-borne Disease Branch Detects Borrelia miyamotoi in Human Tick Submission

Image of female Ixodes scapularis or deer tick. Female Ixodes scapularis tick, or Deer Tick, a primary vector for hard tick relapsing fever.

The Defense Centers Public Health–Aberdeen Vector-Borne Disease Branch has confirmed the presence of Borrelia miyamotoi, an emerging tick-borne pathogen that causes hard tick relapsing fever. This pathogen was detected for the first time at DCPH-A, following implementation of a new molecular test to detect and differentiate between the related agents of Lyme disease and HTRF. The pathogen was found in a human-biting tick submitted in January 2023 to the Military Tick Identification/Infection Confirmation Kit (MilTICK) Program.

MilTICK offers free testing and identification services for ticks removed from Department of Defense beneficiaries, including service members from all branches, civilians, contractors, retirees, and dependents. Any tick found biting an eligible person can be submitted to MilTICK by health care providers through tick kits available at DOD health care facilities, or by individuals through a simple mail-in process. Approximately 3,000 human-biting ticks are tested each year, with each tick species identified, assessed for duration of attachment, and tested for the relevant suite of human pathogens. Results are returned via email to the point of contact provided on the MilTICK form and are used to assess the risk of tick-borne disease to military personnel. Recent tick surveillance data can be accessed through the MilTICK CAC-enabled data dashboard at https://carepoint.health.mil/.

For additional information, or to request tick kits or services, contact the VBD Branch:

Phone: 410-436-5421 or 410-436-5425

Email: usarmy.apg.medcom-a.phc.mbx.tickcom@health.mil

Website: https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/envirohealth/epm/Pages/HumanTickTestKitProgram.aspx

You also may be interested in...

Article
Sep 1, 2023

Update: Routine Screening for Antibodies to Human Immunodeficiency Virus, U.S. Armed Forces, Active and Reserve Components, January 2018–June 2023

This report provides an update through June 2023 of routine screening results for antibodies to HIV among members of the U.S. military. From January 2018 through June 2023, approximately 7 million U.S. military service members (active component, reserve component, and national guard) were tested for HIV antibodies; 1,502 were identified as HIV ...

Report
Sep 1, 2023

MSMR Vol. 30 No. 9 - September 2023

.PDF | 1.30 MB

The September 2023 MSMR provides the annual update of routine screening for antibodies to HIV among the active and reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces; followed by a serological survey of Ross River virus (RRV) infection among U.S. Marine expeditionary forces who train in Australia; followed by a Surveillance Snapshot of the 10 leading ...

Topic
Aug 1, 2023

Vector-Borne Illnesses

Everyone is vulnerable to diseases spread by infected insects like mosquitoes, ticks or fleas, also called vectors. Increasing global travel and urbanization are contributing to vector-borne disease outbreaks in new regions and countries.

Article
Aug 1, 2023

Active Surveillance for Acute Respiratory Disease Detected No Outbreaks at Four U.S. Army Basic Training Installations in 2022

This article presents the 2022 results of the active surveillance program for acute respiratory disease and Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus conducted by the Defense Centers for Public Health-Aberdeen at the four Army installations responsible for basic combat training or one-station unit training. This ARD surveillance program rapidly monitors, ...

Article
Aug 1, 2023

Case Report: Complicated Urinary Tract Infection Due to an Extensively Resistant Escherichia coli in a Returning Traveler

This article presents the medical case report of a 76-year-old man who returned to the U.S. following overseas travel and was admitted at Hawai'i's Tri­pler Army Medical Center with a complicated urinary tract infection due to an extensively resistant strain of E. coli.

Report
Aug 1, 2023

MSMR Vol. 30 No. 8 - August 2023

.PDF | 1.02 MB

The August 2023 MSMR provides the most recent data from the active surveillance program for acute respiratory disease and Group A Beta-Hemolytic Streptococcus among U.S. Army basic trainees; then summarizes the case report of an extensively resistant E. coli in a returning traveler at Hawai'i's Tripler Army Medical Center; followed by a Surveillance ...

Article Around MHS
Jul 13, 2023

Entomologist Augments Warfighter Research Across Indo Pacific Region

U.S. Navy Lt. Thomas McGlynn, a medical entomologist at the Navy Entomology Center of Excellence, poses for a photo with Malaysian commissioned and noncommissioned officers, Malaysian public health officials, and researchers from the University of Malaysia Sabah during their training in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Feb. 9. (Photo: U.S. Navy Lt. Nicholas Johnston)

Naval Medical Research Unit 2 was established during World War II in Guam to conduct applied research in support of force health protection and has operated intermittently since 1955. Currently, NAMRU-2 is located in Singapore and acts as the center of a hub-and-spoke research model in multiple southeastern Asian countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, ...

Skip subpage navigation
Refine your search
Last Updated: July 11, 2023
Follow us on Instagram Follow us on LinkedIn Follow us on Facebook Follow us on X Follow us on YouTube Sign up on GovDelivery