Tick and tick-borne disease knowledge across frontline groups: A knowledge, attitudes, and practices meta-comparison

Prevention of tick bites and tick-borne diseases (TBDs) is reliant on individual-level protection measures, such as use of repellants and frequent tick checks in high-risk areas. However, these require knowledge of local spatiotemporal risk, awareness of basic prevention measures, and concern sufficient to implement protection measures. Since 2018, we have conducted Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices surveys within multiple populations for which ticks and TBDs are a concern in the state of Illinois, USA. These populations include employees of local public health departments (n=42), veterinary professionals (n=72), and medical professionals (n=346). We will compare knowledge scores, subscores and TBD concern levels among these different populations, and compare their responses to existing tick presence and abundance and TBD prevalence data at the county and regional level. For instance, medical professionals had a higher median tick knowledge score (69%) than veterinarians (59%) or public health officials (52%), but veterinarians had a higher median disease score (47%) than the other two groups (30%). These scores varied significantly by time since last training for both veterinarians and medical professionals. These findings can serve as the basis of a One Health approach to tick prevention outreach and training for those at the front lines of TBD prevention.