The Nova Scotia government is spending $1.2 million on a project that aims to develop new tick-control and repellency technologies. Research Nova Scotia unveiled the funding at the official opening of the Canadian Tick Research and Innovation Centre at Acadia University (CTRIC) on Tuesday. The federal government is also spending $455,000 on the project, according to Acadia University. “Led by Dr. Nicoletta Faraone in Acadia’s Chemistry department, CTRIC is Canada’s first tick research lab, helping faculty and students learn more about what makes ticks tick and how we can keep Canadians safe from Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and other diseases spread through their bites,” the university said. “The new research centre opened earlier this year.” Nova Scotia is home to several ticks, including blacklegged ticks that can transmit illnesses. “This investment will support the development and evaluation of new tick repellents and control technologies, helping translate scientific discoveries into products while strengthening surveillance and our ability to detect and monitor emerging tick-borne pathogens,” Faraone said in a news release from the government. Faraone said they will collect ticks in the wild and use them to build their own colony to study. “It will help to investigate surveillance for understanding whether the type of ticks that are in Nova Scotia, in Canada, developing new repellents by studying tick ecology and looking at new approaches for tick bite prevention,” Faraone said. With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Vanessa Wright For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
