Improving Molecular Detection of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Citizen-Collected Ticks
Journal: Pathogens
Year: 2026

This study aimed primarily to evaluate the performance of two Conformité Européenne-In Vitro Diagnostic (CE-IVD) multiplex real-time PCR (rt-PCR) assays for the molecular identification of tick-borne pathogens (TBPs) of human interest on ticks removed from human skin and collected through a citizen science-based approach. As a secondary objective, the aggregated results were used to describe tick species distribution, developmental stages, and seasonal TBP circulation in 2024 in the considered a