A new Scottish Highlands ‘ citizen science ’ labor that will quiz new technology to map tick hotspot has get financial backing from theEuropean Space Agency ( ESA).The one - year study will test the new phone app calledLymeMap , and see whether it can be adapted internationally .
The project will bring together citizen , researchers and health workers , and apply GPS technology , smartphones and data point analysis to fight Lyme disease , whichhas increase tenfold in Scotland . The ESA has grant the project just over $ 280,000 .
LymeMap will allow user to upload images of their check pungency , where they were bitten and the time and date , enounce Tom Davison , a spokesperson forNHS highland . The app will also provide them with advice on ticks and Lyme disease .
Using both Global Positioning System engineering to gather information on a user ’s localisation and information provided by doctors and NHS Highland ’s National Lyme Borreliosis Testing Laboratory , LymeMap will facilitate produce map that will supply a clearer word-painting on the prevalence of check and Lyme disease . Researchers suggestthese maps will vary by season and will hopefully help reduce the tick bite incidences .
Lyme disease is induce by the bacteriaBorrelia burgdorferiand can be spread to human if they ’re bite by infected ticks . Early symptomstypically includea circular rash that see like a ‘ bull ’s eye’on the bitten surface area , others alsoexperience headaches and a feverishness . If left untreated , Lyme diseasecan turn nasty , affecting your anxious system , and can have painful joints and heart problems .
The wallop of LymeMap would be “ small but significant initially , ” Davison tells IFLScience . “ But it will maturate as more specific and detailed info is gathered both in Scotland and internationally . "
Lyme disease is the most common tick - expect disease in Europe , with theEuropean Centre for Disease Prevention and Controlestimating 85,000 case every yr , and incidence are increasing . Confirmed grammatical case for Lyme disease in the U.S. went from 11,700 in 1995 to 29,959 in 2009 , allot to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention .
