{"doi":"10.1093/jme/tjac027","title":"Designing an Intervention Trial of Human-Tick Encounters and Tick-Borne Diseases in Residential Settings Using 4-Poster Devices to Control <i>Ixodes scapularis</i> (Acari: Ixodidae): Challenges for Site Selection and Device Placement","abstract":"Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, transmit Lyme disease spirochetes and other human pathogens in the eastern United States. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are key reproductive hosts for I. scapularis adults, and therefore control methods targeting deer have the potential for landscape-wide tick suppression. A topical acaricide product, containing 10% permethrin, is self-applied by deer to kill parasitizing ticks when they visit 4-Poster Tick Control Deer Feeders (hereafter, 4-Posters) Previous 4-Poster intervention studies, including in residential settings, demonstrated suppression of I. scapularis populations but did not include human-based outcomes. To prepare for a proposed 4-Poster intervention trial in residential areas of Connecticut and New York that would include human-tick encounters and tick-borne diseases as outcomes, we sought to identify areas (study clusters) in the 80-100 ha size range and specific locations within these areas where 4-Poster devices could be deployed at adequate density (1 device per 20-25 ha) and in accordance with regulatory requirements. Geographic Information System-based data were used to identify prospective study clusters, based on minimum thresholds for Lyme disease incidence, population density, and forest cover. Ground truthing of potential 4-Poster placement locations was done to confirm the suitability of selected clusters. Based on these efforts, we failed to identify more than a few residential areas fulfilling all criteria for a treatment cluster. We, therefore, reconsidered pursuing the intervention trial, which required inclusion of >30 treatment clusters to achieve adequate statistical power. The 4-Poster methodology may be more readily evaluated in natural or public areas than in residential settings in NY or CT.","journal":"Journal of Medical Entomology","year":2022,"id":267916,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":6,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9551,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":620005,"name":"Adam Rowe","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":929498,"name":"Alison Kaufman","orcid":"0000-0001-5203-1691","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":271488,"name":"James Meek","orcid":"0000-0001-5553-1675","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":711255,"name":"Sara A. Niesobecki","orcid":"0000-0002-6399-9005","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":759677,"name":"AmberJean P. Hansen","orcid":"0000-0003-1140-170X","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":482486,"name":"Jennifer L. White","orcid":"0000-0001-6343-6109","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":504385,"name":"Courtney C. Nawrocki","orcid":"0000-0001-7754-6480","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":442022,"name":"Erik Foster","orcid":"0000-0001-7094-2747","position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":504386,"name":"Alison F. Hinckley","orcid":"0000-0003-2853-5165","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":267442,"name":"Lars Eisen","orcid":"0000-0002-0094-3186","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":681740,"name":"Neeta P. Connally","orcid":"0000-0001-7157-7286","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":46,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:27:10.233250Z","pmid":"35294011","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}