Antibiotic tick treatment studied

Irvine, Calif. -- U.S. scientists have found treating ticks with antibiotics might be an effective way of controlling them and the diseases they carry.

University of California-Irvine Professor Alan Barbour and researchers Jianmin Zhong and Algimantas Jasinskas discovered certain antibiotics reduced the number of bacteria in ticks and are linked with retarded growth in immature ticks as well as reducing reproduction by adult females.

"The significance is that control of ticks as vectors of disease and as pests for humans, pets and agricultural animals might be achieved by targeting inborn bacteria that the ticks depend on for achieving full growth and reproduction," Barbour said.

The research project is detailed in the current issue of the journal PLoS ONE.

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