The GCMVCD will periodically assist the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) in collecting ticks and rodents for disease surveillance in Glenn County. Tick Surveillance is done primarily because of the diseases that ticks can transmit. In the United States ticks are known to transmit 14  human illnesses. The two that are most common are Lyme Disease, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF). Lyme disease is an infectious disease caused by  a bacterium known as Borrelia burgdorferi. People get Lyme Disease when a tick infected with the Lyme Disease attaches and feeds on them. The tick that is responsible for spreading Lyme Disease in Northern California is the Western Black-legged tick. RMSF bacteria is primarily from the Pacific Coast tick. Both of these ticks can be readily found in Glenn County. Most of the tick and rodent surveillance in Glenn County is done in areas that CDPH has little to no surveillance data or from locations of reported disease transmissions. Rodents that are collected from camp sites, cabins, and other US Forest Service facilities are tested for Bubonic Plague, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), as well as other zoonotic diseases.