What makes viruses tick?

Raising awareness of ticks and tick-borne viruses across Scotland

Scotland has seen an increase in the popularity of outdoor pursuits throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As more people spend more time hill-walking, running or camping in the countryside, we can expect to see an increase in reports of tick bites and sightings.

Climate change may also be impacting tick populations, as the recent mild winters in Scotland may have stopped ticks from dying off meaning more survive through the winter to start biting again in spring.

The Brennan Lab are partnering with TCV to grow our #TickMap where you can take a look at and report tick “sightings and bitings”.

Click the links below to submit a tick sighting to us, find information and educational resources relating to ticks, and learn more about our team and the work we do fighting tick-borne disease.

Huge thank you to Eliza Wolfson for our amazing illustrations and branding.

Tick Map

Have you seen, or been bitten by, a tick whilst out and about? Go to this page to report your sighting and add it to our #TickMap.
You can also view the map to see where people have been seeing ticks in Scotland and beyond!

View the Map/Submit Sighting
Information and Resources

Find information on how to keep tick safe and prevent bites, as well as advice on what to do if you’re bitten.
Also on this page, you can also download our lesson plan which teaches about viruses and ticks.

Find Out More
Tick Bite Prevention Week 2022

For TBPW we created a series of videos introducing the Brennan Lab and their roles in tick-borne virus research.
We also held a series of interviews covering tick-borne disease, tick control, citizen science and more!

Watch the Videos

Tick Talks

As part of our Public Engagement activity we have collected interviews with patients, carers and clinicians about their experiences with tick-borne diseases in collaboration with the Lyme Resource Centre.

Listen to some of their powerful stories here and download our Zines to share the stories of Pauline and Benedict.

Benedict’s Story

Download this A4 Zine which tells the story of Benedict, a young person in Scotland and his experience with Lyme Disease

Pauline’s Story

Download this A4 Zine which tells the story of Pauline, a schoolteacher in Scotland and her experience with Lyme Disease

Julia muses on the differences between how broken bones are treated and the provision of antibiotics.

Pauline’s story recounts an experience with a doctor as she attempted to be taken seriously for her Lyme Disease diagnosis

Benedict shares how an invite to stay with a friend in Glasgow led to a change in perspective and recovery for his Lyme Disease illness

Rosie talks about how her family and friends now always wear wellies when outdoors, for fear of being bitten by ticks.

Huge thank you to Hana Ayoob for these amazing illustrations.

School Resources

Download our school resources that cover Early through to Third Level

These short and simple ideas for activities will introduce pupils to ticks, tick-borne illness and uses real life example to explore the impact these small creatures have.

S1 - S2 Lesson Idea

S3 - S4 Lesson Idea

Second Level Lesson Idea

Early & First Level Lesson Idea