CiTIQUE: new version of the app now available
To improve prevention of the risks associated with tick bites, in 2017, INRAE and its partners created the participatory "Signalement Tique" application as part of the CiTIQUE project in which ANSES is participating. From today, everyone will have access to a new version which is more practical for users and more useful for researchers.
The free app "Signalement Tique" aims to improve our knowledge of ticks and the associated diseases. This app gets citizens and researchers involved in collecting data on the geographical distribution of ticks, the background of bites (date, area of the body bitten, number of ticks on the host, type of environment, how it reached the bite site, photo of the bite and/or the tick, etc.) and the pathogens carried.
Since 2007, more than 23,500 bites have already been recorded in France and more than 20,000 ticks have been added to France's first and only participatory tick ”library”. Thanks to this data, researchers now know that:
- the risk is greatest during spring and autumn;
- 15% of the ticks analysed were carriers of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease;
- one third of reported bites occurred in private gardens or public parks.
This latest version of the app offers new features for citizens: option of reporting a bite while in "offline" mode, creation of several profiles (for parents, children and pets, for example) within the same account, information on prevention and post-bite follow-up, etc. For researchers, database management is now easier thanks to new software that links bite reports with the ticks archived in the tick library.
Through the “Signalement Tique” app, citizen participation is helping advance scientific research. To download the app, go to the AppStore or PlayStore platforms.