Using deer-targeted 4-poster tick control devices in areas with high incidence of Lyme disease

Posted on December 6, 2023 by Victoria Hornbostel

This entry is part 5 of 11 in the series Jan 2024

4-Poster devices could be a viable addition to community tick management programs

The number of cases of human disease caused by tick bites continues to rise annually in the United States, posing a major threat to public health. The risk for tickborne diseases, especially Lyme disease, is particularly high in the northeastern United States, where the blacklegged tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, is commonly found in suburban landscapes. Residential communities in this region often contain habitat suitable for white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). White-tailed deer serve as important hosts for blacklegged ticks as well as for the aggressive human-biting lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), which can carry other human pathogens. Researchers have been working for decades to find methods for reducing the risk of residential tick exposure, but no magic solution has been found. What is a public health or vector control program to do in an area where tickborne disease incidence continues to increase?

Read Our Article

Currently available and research-driven public health tools to reduce tick bites rely on public health education and in turn, the willingness of people to apply such education. People may be able to reduce their risk of Lyme disease exposure by wearing EPA-approved tick repellent, checking themselves for ticks, and bathing soon after being outside, for example. Homeowners may also reduce the number of ticks in their yards by treating their property with certain tick-killing pesticides. Reducing tick numbers on individual properties, though, has not been shown to reduce disease cases for a variety of reasons. One reason may be that without best management guidelines for tick-killing pesticide use on residential properties, ineffective pesticides are used or pesticides are incorrectly applied. Another reason may be that only a portion of homeowners in a neighborhood use tick-killing pesticides on their properties. Studies have shown that the number of ticks over a broad geographic scale, such as an entire community, may be linked to human cases of tickborne disease. While mosquito control programs are often implemented by vector control agencies on a regional scale, tick management programs have historically been the responsibility of individuals. If a community or region were to employ a tick management strategy to reduce tick populations across the entire area, there might be a resulting decrease in human tickborne disease incidence.

Photo credit: Peggy Stewart

Photo was taken by a Reconyx Hyperfire 2 motion-activated camera.

There is a device that has been shown to reduce blacklegged and lone star tick numbers, and even human Lyme disease incidence, at the community or neighborhood level. The 4-Poster Tick Control Deer Feeder (“4-poster”) device kills ticks on white-tailed deer by applying a tick-killing pesticide to deer via treated rollers that they rub against while feeding on corn bait. Since white-tailed deer are important hosts for blacklegged and lone star ticks, travel over large areas, and thrive in suburban communities, treating ticks on deer could augment current tick management efforts. Two recent studies by the CDC and TickNET partners found challenges to high density use of 4-posters in residential areas in the Northeast, however, and found that people favored installation of 4-posters on public land more than on residential properties in their communities.

Few, if any, studies have described the step-by-step logistics of installing currently available 4-posters in a community setting. Our study describes the nuts and bolts of deploying these devices on a public golf course in a suburban Connecticut town that is endemic for blacklegged ticks and Lyme disease. Our goal was to provide logistical and operational details to help inform municipalities and other agencies considering 4-posters for tick management in tickborne disease-endemic areas.

Through our study, we found that 4-posters, when installed on public land in a residential area, can be a feasible addition to tickborne disease prevention programs implemented by vector control programs, public health agencies, or municipalities.

Key points to consider from our study:

Organizations considering 4-posters must check with local and state regulatory agencies to determine permitting requirements;
4-posters should be deployed for at least 2 years to effectively reduce tick numbers;
Cost may appear high initially, but read the details in our study to understand the actual cost breakdown;
Using 4-posters on public land is feasible, if an organization follows the guidelines we detail, such as:
- Ordering specified accessories and upgrades;
- Placing devices in locations easily accessed by pest control operators;
- Using a trained and licensed pest control operator, which may already be employed with other town or municipal departments;
- Being bear-aware. Our study details more information about potential issues and possible solutions in areas with active bear populations.

Read our study “Operational Considerations for Using Deer-Targeted 4-Poster Tick Control Devices in a Tick-borne Disease Endemic Community” in the January 2024 issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.

This study was undertaken by members of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Connecticut TickNET (Prevention of Tick-borne Diseases Network) partners, which includes the Connecticut Emerging Infections Program, the Yale School of Public Health, the State of Connecticut Department of Public Health, and Western Connecticut State University’s Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory. TickNET is a public health network established in 2007 to promote collaboration among the CDC, state health departments, and academic centers toward reducing tickborne disease.

Coauthors

James I. Meek, MPH, is the Associate Director of the Yale Emerging Infections Program, Yale School of Public Health, and Lecturer in Epidemiology (Microbial Diseases).

AmberJean P. Hansen, MPH, is a Research Assistant within the Yale Emerging Infections Program, Yale School of Public Health.

Sara Niesobecki, MPH, MS, is an Epidemiologist at the Yale Emerging Infections Program, and Project Coordinator for TickNET.

Courtney C. Nawrocki, MPH, is an Epidemiologist with the Bacterial Diseases Branch in the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Alison F. Hinckley, PhD, is an Epidemiologist with the Bacterial Diseases Branch in the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Neeta P. Connally, MSPH, PhD, is a CSU Professor of Biology and Director of the Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory in the Department of Biology at Western Connecticut State University.

About the Author

Victoria Hornbostel: Vicki Hornbostel holds an M.E.S. from the Yale School of the Environment and is currently the TickNET project coordinator for the Western Connecticut State University Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory. As a research assistant at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook NY, Vicki previously worked on tick ecology projects.