Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory Recognized in Harrisburg

Posted by: Elizabeth Richardson on December 12, 2017, No Comments

On Monday, December 11 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania State Representative Rosemary Brown recognized the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory at East Stroudsburg University for being a leader in tick testing and the prevention of Lyme disease and tick-borne illness on the state House floor.

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted primarily by ticks. In the last six years, Pennsylvania ranked highest in the country in the number of confirmed cases of Lyme disease. The disease poses a serious threat to the quality of life of many Pennsylvanians and our visitors.

“I am extremely grateful for entities like the Northeast Wildlife DNA Laboratory at East Stroudsburg University, and the work they do on such an important public issue,” Brown said.

“The lab was founded in 2005 as an extension of the Biological Sciences Department of ESU. Since then, it has been established as one of the leading tick-testing laboratories in the state that provides tick-borne pathogen identification to the public,” Brown said. “They test thousands of tick species and infection rates, and it is one of two major tick-testing facilities in the U.S. that provides comprehensive research data on tick-borne pathogens across the country.”