About the ICTTD

The ICTTD-3 is a Coordinated Action (CA) financially supported by INCO, the International Cooperation program of the European Union. The aim of the CA is to support a research program on tick-borne diseases jointly executed by a consortium of 43 institutions in 29 different countries (click here for a list of participating organisations) directed by a Steering Committee consisting of:

• Prof. Gervásio Bechara (Sao Paulo State University, Brazil)
• Prof. Mohamed Darghouth (Ecole Vétérinaire Nationale, Tunisia)
• Prof. Andrew Tait (Glasgow University, UK)
• Prof. Virgilio do Rosario (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal)
• Prof. Jabber Ahmed (Forschungsinstitut Borstel, Germany)
• Prof. Frans Jongejan (Utrecht University, the Netherlands and University of Pretoria, South Africa) (coordinator)

A newsletter, edited by Prof. Gerrit Uilenberg who is assisted by a team of 12 co-editors, is published three times a year by the ICTTD and contains the latest information on publications concerning ticks and tick-borne diseases. Electronic copies are freely available online as well and can be found in the archive section of this website.

The CA will focus on tick-host-pathogen interactions to identify concrete means of control that reduce the prevalence of tick-borne diseases in (sub)tropical countries. The current ICTTD-3 program is a continuation of ICTTD-1 (1996-2000) and ICTTD-2 (2000-2004) and has developed into a large consortium of researchers working on ticks and tick-borne diseases, with over 1000 registered scientists worldwide. In ICTTD-3, five working groups have been created:

   1. Database (THPbase) and GIS (Global Information Systems) working group: A cluster of integrated databases for ticks, hosts and pathogens. Prevalence data on ticks and tick-borne pathogens will be linked to remotely sensed eco-climatic data to create predictive maps for geographical distribution of ticks and diseases in the (sub-tropics)
   2. Biosystematics Forum: A forum which will discuss, evaluate and recommend changes regarding biosystematics and molecular phylogeny of ticks and tick-borne pathogens
   3. Molecular Diagnostic Network: Novel molecular diagnostics will be used to conduct comparative epidemiological studies on tick-borne diseases
   4. Genomics and vaccine design: proteomics data for ticks and tick-borne pathogens will be exploited to design novel integrated vaccine strategies targeting ticks and pathogens to reduce dependency on chemical tick control. The CA will act as a focal point for setting up consortia on novel genomics projects particularly for ticks
   5. Study group on tick-borne zoonoses: the human medicine section of the consortium, developing a database on zoonotic tick-borne pathogens occurring in the Tropics and Subtropics.

This website will act as a resource for tick and tick-borne pathogen related information (Archive / TicksBase / Virtual Tick Museum). Furthermore, scientists can participate in on-line forums where these and related issues are discussed (Discussion groups).

For administrative matters please contact the ICTTD Public Relations Manager Jona Bovy-Verbeek: tropicalticks@vet.uu.nl

For more information concerning the website, please contact webmaster Hans Nieuwenhuijs: info@icttd.nl

For information concerning the Virtual Tick Museum or TicksBase, please contact Ard Nijhof: ard@icttd.nl