News

INHS Medical Entomology Lab hiring for TWO salaried staff positions!

We are hiring for two positions at the INHS-MEL located at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois. These are jobs with long-term employment potential working with outstanding colleagues in a great environment. Champaign-Urbana is a lively and growing area with excellent recreational and cultural opportunities and a low-cost of living. The University of Illinois […]

Now hiring hourly positions in Public Health Entomology 2022

Our advertisement for seasonal hourly technicians is now open! Deadline for full consideration is April 1, 2022. Please see announcement at the INHS website. The work is diverse and provides great field and lab experience. Positions will be focused on one or a combo of: field collections of mosquitoes & ticks, pathogen testing, and organismal lab […]

Dr. Chris Stone & Dr. Holly Tuten on “The 21st” to chat about statewide mosquito and tick surveillance for Illinois

It’s bug season which in Illinois means ticks (which are actually arachnids, not insects), mosquitoes and other insects are looking to attach themselves to people and pets. The Illinois Department of Public Health announced that May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month, and here in Illinois, there is a team of entomologists working to track tick and mosquito […]

Lone Star ticks in Illinois can carry, transmit Heartland virus

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers have confirmed that Heartland virus, an emerging pathogen with potentially dire consequences for those infected, is present in Lone Star ticks in two Illinois counties hundreds of miles apart. Lone Star ticks were first detected in Illinois in 1999 but had not been found to be infected with Heartland virus in […]

Asian tiger mosquito gains ground in Illinois

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has become more abundant across Illinois in the past three decades. Its spread is problematic, as the mosquito can transmit diseases – like chikungunya or dengue fever – to humans. The Asian tiger mosquito originated in the forests of southeast Asia. It found its way […]

Disease-carrying coastal tick established in Illinois

The Gulf Coast tick is usually found in the Southeast along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, but researchers at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) and Southern Illinois University (SIU) have new evidence of the Gulf Coast tick becoming established in Illinois. They also have found that it often harbors a pathogen that can make people sick.  Read the […]