Carl Zimmer in Outside Magazine reports that scientists are conducting tests to kill disease-bearing ticks, hoping to retard transmission of Lyme disease. They are, "building contraptions that can be filled with food for deer, mice, and other tick hosts. As the animals wiggle into the devices to eat, they rub against tick-killing ointments. Other researchers have put out vaccine-laden mouse bait, which would cause the mice to kill bacteria before they can spread to new ticks. Perhaps eliminating barberry would cut down on the tick population and reduce the rate of infection. Some researchers still think that wiping out deer should be part of the solution. And others have found fungi that can kill ticks in laboratory tests," Zimmer writes. "Entomologist Kirby Stafford has overseen tests of a number of these methods in Connecticut. Some work better than others, but at this point he doesn’t expect a panacea. 'We’re never going to rid Connecticut of Lyme disease,' he says. 'That’s the reality.'" Read the full story in Outside Magazine.