Young girls are already showing a lot of interest in a Gaziantep-based jewelry store’s “tick” earrings, designed in an effort to raise public awareness of ticks.The tick-borne disease CCHF was first seen in Turkey in 2002, causing 12 deaths the same year. In the first three months of 2008 over 200 people have sought medical help for tick-related symptoms and the disease is clearly on many people’s minds. There are more than 30 countries around the world that have seen cases of CCHF, and though there is as yet no known cure, the tick seems to have served as inspiration for some fashion-inclined entrepreneurs.
Passersby on Gaziantep’s Hakim Mehmet Uygun Boulevard have no doubt noticed the sign in the window of jewelry store Moda Takı Dunyası, announcing that “different varieties of tick earrings have arrived.” Store owner Ahmet Aslan says: “People are very surprised when they first hear about this. But when they see these colorful earrings, they like them and wind up buying them.”
The tick earrings are made in İstanbul and are priced from just YTL 1.5 a pair. Aslan, who notes that young girls in particular have shown a great deal of interest in the earrings, says: “Not much is currently known about ticks in our country. In order to get the people of Turkey to learn more about them, we are selling these earrings at a very cheap price, and not making any profit. There is much more interest being shown in these earrings than we expected, actually.”
Benzer Haberler 
National
