COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University helped launch a national online resource, the VECTOR Library, in October.

OSU is part of the VectorED network, a Vector-borne Disease Training and Evaluation Center established under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to the center’s website. The network aims to build vector-borne disease and control capacity through creating partnerships with academic, federal, local and state institutions in the Mid-Atlantic and Ohio River Valley, as well as through training and the evaluation of programming.

“Vectors are arthropods – like mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas – that can carry and spread microorganisms (e.g., viruses, bacteria, nematodes, protozoa) that make people sick,” Darryl Ramoutar, an extension educator with OSU and funded through the CDC, said in an email interview. “By understanding how these insects spread illness, we can take steps to protect ourselves.”

The VECTOR Library, which stands for Vector Education, Communication, and Training Online Resources, is a centralized, publicly accessible digital platform. Other institutions involved in its creation include Penn State, the University of Tennessee, West Virginia Wesleyan College, the University of Delaware, and the University of Pittsburgh. OSU Extension was an active participant in the development of the library from ideation to expert evaluation and curation of content, Ramoutar said in a press release about the project.

The database contains over 1,400 educational materials and can be accessed at vector-education.org/vector-library. The database serves as a digital repository of vector and vector-borne disease education materials from all U.S. land grant institutions serving a variety of professionals, including agricultural workers, educators, and veterinary professionals, Ramoutar said. Additionally, materials in the database will be continuously curated to make sure information is up to date, accurate, and that links to online materials are still active. In the future, local and state public health department information will be incorporated.

The VECTOR Library is easy to use. Users can search by pests, state, type of educational material (such as blog posts, infographics or websites), CDC geographic region, and more. Users can also type in their own search query, such as searching for “OSU Extension” to find materials published by OSU’s extension offices.

The resource is especially important for agricultural workers, he said.

“Agricultural workers are at a very high risk of exposure to vector-borne diseases due to the nature of their work and environment (e.g., outdoor work, working with animals/livestock, seasonal migrant work),” Ramoutar said. “These workers may use the database to learn about vector-borne disease risk where and when they work, and how to protect themselves.”

For example, the database offers resources and materials related to arthropod and landscape management, EPA-approved repellents and protective clothing, and has posters and fact sheets that can be used to train seasonal workers.

Local communities can also benefit from using the database to understand their geographic vector species, habitats, and seasonal patterns, helping people to identify vectors and region-specific control strategies based on local regulations, Ramoutar added. Additionally, local extension agents can use the resource to educate themselves during outbreaks to instruct their community on vector/disease prevention strategies.

Ramoutar especially wants the public to be aware of ticks.

“Ticks are rapidly increasing their ranges and thus the disease(s) they spread are also expanding. The public should be aware of what tick-borne diseases exist in their area, and how to protect themselves,” he said.

Nationwide, tick-borne diseases account for 75-77 percent of all reported arthropod vector-borne infections, Ramoutar shared. Research shows that Lyme Disease comprises over 82 percent of these cases. Nationally, the incidence of the disease has doubled between 2004 and 2016. Pennsylvania alone experienced a 190 percent increase in cases from 2021 to 2022, according to data released by the state. West Virginia has reported a 5.3-fold increase from 2015 to 2021, and Ohio reported a 2.3-fold increase from 2022 to 2023.

Emerging vector-borne diseases include Alpha-gal syndrome, a red meat allergy associated with bites from a lone star tick; and spotted fever rickettsia, a bacterial disease associated with the Gulf Coast tick. Ramoutar also noted that the Asian long-horned tick has established populations in the Ohio River Valley, primarily affecting bovine livestock, causing anemia, stress and blood loss.

Preventing and controlling the spread of vector and vector-borne diseases starts with education. Besides the VECTOR library, Ramoutar also recommended that people seek information from the CDC, the World Health Organization, land grant university Extension offices, state departments of health, and the National Center for Farmworker Health, which also offers materials for Spanish speakers.