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Scanning electron microscopy image of a chigger. Credit: Loganathan Ponnusamy, NC State University A study in North Carolina has detected the bacterium responsible for scrub typhus, a serious disease, in local chiggers. The findings prompt concerns about the disease’s origins and potential health risks, with further research underway to assess the implications. A bacterium that causes a disease called scrub typhus – a disease not previously reported in the United States – has been detected in North Carolina, according to a new study by researchers at North Carolina State University and UNC-Greensboro. The researchers stress that scrub typhus, which can...

Hi Fellow FReepers, I got home this afternoon and noticed many tiny (much smaller than an ant), red bugs crawling all around on my sidewalk and yard. Being that I grew up and still live in the south, I know how bad chiggers can be. But, after doing a little research this afternoon, it seems like these might not be chiggers after all because they are too large (chiggers are supposed to be microscopic). I have since done more research trying to figure out what these bugs are, but have hit a wall. I was hoping my fellow FReepers may...

  Home > Local Forecast for Crawford, TX Current Conditions    scroll down for map and 10-day forecast 102°F Fair Feels Like112°F UV Index: 10 Very High Dew Point: 70°F Humidity: 35% Visibility: Unlimited Pressure: 29.89 inches and N/A Wind: calm  As reported at McGregor, TX Last Updated Wednesday, August 6, 2003, at 2:55 PM Central Daylight Time (Wednesday, 3:55 PM EDT). Rainfall as reported at McGregor, TX: Tue., Aug. 5: 0.00 in.  Get weekly rainfall totals Today's watering need for: Crawford Mod  Your regional garden update

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. STATESBORO, Ga. - Like a tiny gilded menagerie, 3,000 gold-covered ticks stand upright in active positions on dime-sized platforms. Nearby is one of the most complete repositories of written knowledge on the tick, dating back to Homer, 800 B.C. Hundreds of thousands more of the bloodsucking creatures are tucked away in government-issue metal filing cabinets. The Smithsonian's little-known U.S. National Tick Collection is stored in a former home-economics demonstration house at Georgia Southern University. The collection's curators, the world's foremost authorities of tick identification, are in charge of more than 1...