TickTracker Mobile Application

TickTracker is a free app originated by a 14-year-old Colorado resident to help combat tick-transmitted infections and diseases by using a patent-pending algorithm to coordinate multiple tick-activity data sources into a simple and user-friendly map view. TickTracker helps combat tick transmitted infections and disease by showing real time and historic tick activity data on an interactive map through reported sightings and bites. The app also educates users on tick prevention and safety. Users do not have to be scientists to utilize the app. Anyone noticing a tick can snap a picture, upload the details, and the information goes into a large database, where it is synthesized for errors before being passed on to researchers and the community. 

Lyme disease is most often transmitted by tick bites and has been found in all 50 States and in more than 60 other countries. Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing vector-borne diseases. Every year, more than 300,000 people contract the illness, while many of them never get the visible 'bullseye' rash or even know they were bitten.  Public awareness of its symptoms and possible contraction is critical. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has revised its estimates from 30,000 to over 300,000 people that are diagnosed with Lyme disease in the U.S. every year. Those contracting this debilitating disease is greater than the number of women diagnosed annually with breast cancer, and seven times the number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS each year. Lyme disease affects people of all ages; however, the CDC notes that it is most common in children and older adults. 

There is currently no cure for Lyme disease. The LivLyme Foundation is a nonprofit organization providing financial assistance to families of children suffering from Lyme disease, funding scientists for Lyme and tick-borne disease research, while delivering tick education and awareness around the globe. In addition to the United States, TickTracker is now available in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia. The plan is to continue developing the app into multiple languages so that everyone can have access in their native tongue.

The present TickTracker application comprises the capture and display of insect, human and animal-based metadata, which is capable of tracking and displaying the metadata, which is time and location-based. The data is then organized in order to show migration paths of insects and/or the diseases they have the potential to carry.  This real-time view can help predict future insect and disease based on various scenarios such as, but not limited to: increased exposure based on the following: a user’s geo-location, date and/or time of year, carrier type, etc.  These variables can then assist with the education, awareness and potential prevention of disease.

The core insect tracking technology (TickTracker) is based on data input and aggregation from various sources. This data is grounded in human verification of an insect sighting and/or biting event based on insect type, date and time of said event, geo-location of said event, potential disease associated with the insect captured from the event, potential carrier type and potential physical location of insect biting on carrier.  This aggregated data is then transformed to either display or relay the data captured around an insect sighting and/or biting event, with the overall intent to demonstrate real-time insect location and migration patterns, which may or may not be associated with potential pathogens or diseases the insect may carry.  This API-based technology is able to be embedded within the core mobile application or distributed and consumed by third-party subscribers.

Available free at Google Play and Apple app stores, TickTracker was created by Denver resident Olivia Goodreau, founder of the LivLyme Foundation. Olivia recognized the need for an app-based technology to help others track the small arachnids after realizing nothing existed when trying to determine where her dog may have picked up ticks during a summer break. Launched nationally in February 2018, the free app was released globally in July 2018 and is now available in Spanish and French as well as English.

The system is divided into three main parts: the database, the API application, and apps and websites that consume and send data to the API. The database stores all insect bite records, and is able to be preloaded with third-party insect records via an import script.

The API is an MVC (Model, View, Controller) application that resides on a web server that is accessible from the internet. It reads data from the database as well as writes new entries back to the database. The main functions are to store and retrieve bite records, and to generate a bite risk value based on the current location of a user and the amount of insects that are within a certain radius.

Why 14-Year Old Olivia Goodreau's Work With the TickTracker App Matters:

• According to the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group’s 2018 report to Congress, over the past 25 years, reports of Lyme disease have increased steadily with estimated annual cases numbering more than 300,000.
• The report goes on to say, “the number of U.S. counties now considered to be of high incidence for Lyme disease has increased by more than 300% in the Northeastern states and by approximately 250% in the North-Central states.”
• Most often transmitted by tick bites, Lyme disease has been found in all 50 US states and in more than 60 other countries, which is why public awareness of its symptoms and possible contraction is so critical.
• Not only are these numbers staggering, the U.S. is not fully prepared for the explosive increase in the tick population.
• With the discovery of the Asian Longhorn Tick in 2017, health officials are concerned about the case numbers increasing. This particular tick, which can also be found on pets, livestock, and wildlife, can reproduce without mating. Swarms of ticks can attack in numbers of 1,000 or more on one animal or person. 

TickTracker currently has more than 15,000 users. Given that the app just launched in November 2018, we expect that number to double or triple within a year. Within five years, we anticipate 100,000 people will be using TickTracker with further financial/grant support.

The TickTracker data will be used for research to learn more about tick migration, outbreaks, hotspots, etc.  The LivLyme TickTracker research team will analyze this data on its own & in partnership with scientists, researchers, & clinicians approved by the LivLyme Foundation.

The LivLyme Foundation will provide information about its findings to the public through publications of white papers, peer reviewed articles, our website & alerts on your smart phones.

The data we display is from the data we collect live via the app. It along with several other vetted/trusted data sources is used to help display a tick severity index in your local area with the overall goal of education and prevention of tick-borne diseases.

We will not sell personal information, however, we will share tick sighting and biting information in order to help us display TickTracker’s Tick Severity Index. We also may share the information sent about the sighting or bite with other sources in order to collaborate with the scientific and technology community to better educate everyone on the current and potential future threat of ticks in geographic areas or geographic areas the public visits or plans to visit.

The TickTracker app was developed to educate users on tick activity in their area. It is now estimated more than 350,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease every year in the U.S. This equates to over 29,000 new cases every month, 959 new cases a day, 40 new cases every hour. As the fastest spreading vector-borne (tick-borne) disease in the U.S., the number of new cases of Lyme is 1.5 times greater than breast cancer and 7 times greater than HIV/AIDS. It is also estimated approximately 200 children get Lyme disease every day.

The cost to treat Lyme disease is in excess of $1 billion per year, or approximately $3,000 per patient per year. But, the per-patient cost of treating PTLDS (Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome) can be in the $10,000 – $100,000 range. Most insurance plans only cover treatment for the first month, leaving the patient with out of pocket expenses for medication, supplements and treatment.

Another challenge that patients face is the rising cost of medicine. Doxycycline, an antibiotic routinely prescribed for treatment of Lyme disease, has increased from $.03 per pill to over $5.00 per pill since 2014. Many patients take two of these per day. Without help, some children won’t be able to get the medication they need.

TickTracker's use can help curb the incidents of Lyme disease contraction. 

TickTracker was initially invented and is funded and endorsed by the LivLyme Foundation. TickTracker is free to the public to download via the Apple and Android App Stores. We are encouraging everyone to download and start helping us track tick sightings and bitings in order to help our communities better understand the spread of ticks and tick-borne diseases. Funding to help spread the word and further develop the app will ensure we are reducing the incidents of Lyme disease and other tick-borne ailments.

There are currently 10 individuals working on this project.

Selected to participate in the Department of Health and Human Services 14-week Tech Sprint earlier this year, Olivia Goodreau’s  TickTracker app was selected as one of the most impactful technologies to come out of the Sprint. Olivia was asked to present her findings at the White House and Department of Commerce in front of hundreds of federal officials. Recently, TickTracker launched heat maps as a way to further help track the severity of ticks in regions across the globe. Olivia was selected and recognized as the youngest inventor ever to participate in The Opportunity Project’s 14-week TOP Health Sprint.

Stricken with Lyme disease after a tick bite while on a family vacation to Missouri in the second grade, doctors struggled to find out what was wrong with Olivia since she did not present the common bulls-eye rash. After being seen by 51 different physicians, she was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. Currently, she takes over 80 medications daily and several IVIG treatments monthly causing her to not only miss out on school, but a normal life of a 14-year-old girl. This experience prompted her to start the LivLyme Foundation where she devotes countless hours to the cause through supporting research, organizing fundraising events, and developing a life-saving app called TickTracker.

Tick Testing Labs

• Tick Report
• Tick Encounter
• IGeneX
• Ticknology
• Immuno Technologies

Human Testing

• IGeneX
• Galaxy Diagnostics
• DNA Connexions
• Fry Laboratories
• Infecto Lab Americas
• Armin Labs
• Geneticks

Animal Testing

• NC State Veterinary Medicine
• Galaxy Diagnostics
• Texas A&M Veterinary Medical School

At LivLyme our mission is to provide finacial grants to scientists to help fund research projects for better testing, better treatment and a cure for Lyme and Tick-borne diseases. In 2018, Olivia delivered grants to Dr. Eva Sapi (University of New Haven), Dr. Rajadas (Stanford University), and Dr. Zhang (John Hopkins). The LivLyme Foundation only provides research grant funding to Section 501(c)(3) research organizations and universities. Grants are not given to individual researchers.

Children are the most vulnerable population when it comes to getting bit by a tick and contracting Lyme & other tick-borne diseases.  Our mission at LivLyme is to also provide financial grants to help children receive the medication and treatment they so desperately need.

Insects migrate from a location to location(s) and tracking and visually viewing their current habitat and past & future migration creates data for users in real-time to help assess risk of an insect sighting or biting within a certain geographic region/location. This geo-location-based data can also be tied with disease and the location and timing of the disease as it relates to the location and migration of insects, who may or may to be a carrier of said disease. The overall goal of TickTracker is to assist with prevention and education of disease carriers, specifically how they transmit disease and the diseases they may or may not carry.

TickTracker  is a real-time, mobile application-based technology that is focused on the capture and display/reporting of insects across a geo-location and the associated risk severity a person or animal may encounter. This data is then made available via a mobile application as well as an application-programming interface (API) for others to incorporate into their data and/or web-based or mobile-based applications in order to expand the reach and timeliness of capturing insect metadata.

The core insect tracking technology is based on data input and aggregation from various sources. This data is grounded in human verification of an insect sighting and/or bighting event based on insect type, date and time of said event, geo-location of said event, potential disease associated with the insect captured from the event, potential carrier type and potential physical location of insect biting on carrier.  This aggregated data is then transformed to either display or relay the data captured around an insect sighting and/or bighting event, with the overall intent to demonstrate real-time insect location and migration patterns, which may or may not be associated with potential pathogens or diseases the insect may carry.  This API-based technology is able to be embedded within the core mobile application or distributed and consumed by third-party subscribers.