Jack Teng This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. www.pentictonwesternnews.com

   www.pentictonwesternnews.com/p - [Cached]

   Published on: 6/3/2007   Last Visited: 6/6/2007

   Of particular interest to University of B.C. researcher Jack Teng are deer mice and tick populations.
   
   For Teng, the purpose of his pilot study is to try to get attention focused on the health risks linked to those species and to further the understanding for how human populations are affecting their prevalence.
   
   "There hasn't been a systematic search of ticks for a long time in the B.C., the last one was in the ‘30s and there hasn't been a study on lyme disease and hantavirus," he said.
   ...
   The South Okanagan offers the ideal combination of land usage for Teng to undertake his study for a number of reasons.
   
   Between the spread of housing into previously rural areas, and the possible development of a national park in the South Okanagan and Similkameen the area presents a rare balance of bio-diversity.
   
   "For the purpose of learning more about land use practices, we want to find out whether or not it may be a good idea to have a vineyard or an orchard, or maybe it would be good to have a combination," he said, adding that he is not opposed to development in any way, shape of form.
   
   However, understanding how human development affects human health is an issue that everyone should be interested in because as the population spreads, animal habitats are affected.
   
   "One of the things that happens is that human development causes the loss of habitat and that's good for some species and bad for others," he explained.
   
   One example that Teng said many area residents are likely to have noticed is ballooning populations of deer.
   
   "As there is a loss of habitat for predators â€" coyotes, pumas and things like that â€" many have noticed the high presence of deer, for example" said Teng.
   ...
   "It's like there is a monster at our door," said Teng.
   
   "When there is high human density, that attracts a lot of rats and then a lot of ticks, and then all those events create a high risk to humans."
   
   Pointing to the plague outbreak, West Nile virus, the avian flu, SARS smallpox and measles, Teng said these diseases would never have happened if it weren't for interference through human development.
   
   "All of these diseases came from human contact with wildlife that shouldn't have happened, and they will start to happen more and more as human development increases," he said.
   
   "Studying land use practices may be a wise way to prevent outbreaks of diseases. I don't want human development to stop, and I don't think conservation is the only answer, but we need to understand the effects and we need to open a dialogue and to find out which way is the best way to go."
   
   To find out more about the ecological balance in this region, Teng has taken his study group to Okanagan Falls and set traps for mice every night for 10 days.
   
   "Right now we have eight sites in both conservation and human development areas, and we go trap there twice," he said, adding that they are looking to see how high the presence of diseased mice is throughout the region.
   
   "This is an issue that could impact everyone in the area â€"hantavirus and lyme disease are very unpleasant."
   
   With lyme disease being one of his focus areas for the study, Teng said explained the need to examine the oft mis-diagnosed disease closer stems from a serious lack of understanding, which may become more dangerous as tick populations inflate.
   
   "There is a lot controversy around the presence of lyme disease," he said.
   ...
   As for Teng, his research is ongoing and while he was here he came up short on tick samples.