Publications

role of small mammals in population dynamics and dissemination of amblyomma americanum and dermacentor variabilis (acari: ixodidae) at land between the lakes, tennessee.		1987	3295243
medium-sized mammal hosts of amblyomma americanum and dermacentor variabilis (acari: ixodidae) at land between the lakes, tennessee, and effects of integrated tick management on host infestations.		1988	3204625
management of lone star ticks (acari: ixodidae) in recreational areas with acaricide applications, vegetative management, and exclusion of white-tailed deer.	a project on management of lone star ticks, amblyomma americanum (l.), at land between the lakes, a tennessee valley authority recreational area in kentucky-tennessee, during 1984-1988, demonstrated the effectiveness and economics of three control technologies. acaricide applications (chlorpyrifos at 0.28 kg [ai]/ha), vegetative management (mowing and removal of 40% overstory and 90-100% of midstory, understory, and leaf litter), and host management (white-tailed deer exclusion from a 71-ha camp ...	1990	1696994
ectoparasitic and phoretic arthropods of virginia opossums (didelphis virginiana) in central tennessee.	thirteen species of ectoparasitic (12) or phoretic (1) arthropods were collected from 26 adult virginia opossums, didelphis virginiana, live-trapped from april through september 1987 in davidson county, tennessee. the cat flea ctenocephalides felis and the american dog tick dermacentor variabilis were the predominant species with respect to mean intensity and prevalence. the macronyssid mite ornithonyssus wernecki and the atopomelid mite didelphilichus serrifer, both specific parasites of this h ...	1990	2380870
ticks (acari: ixodidae) infesting medium-sized wild mammals in southwestern tennessee.	seven species of ixodid ticks (n = 2,661) were found on medium-sized wild mammals (n = 295) during a 13-mo study in shelby county, tennessee. the seven tick species collected were dermacentor variabilis (say), amblyomma americanum (l.), rhipicephalus sanguineus (latreille), ixodes texanus (banks), i. cookei (packard), i. scapularis (say), and haemaphysalis leporispalustris (packard). the raccoon had the greatest tick species diversity in all of the aforementioned ticks except h. leporispalustris ...	1993	8254637
new version of lstsim for computer simulation of amblyomma americanum (acari: ixodidae) population dynamics.	a previous version of lone star tick simulation model (lstsim) for a wildlife ecosystem was revised and expanded to include a beef cattle forage area and improved handling of tick-host-habitat interactions. relationships between environmental and biological variables were also refined in the new version. general validity of the revised model was established by comparing simulated and observed host-seeking populations of amblyomma americanum (l.) at five geographic locations, three in oklahoma an ...	1993	8254630
ehrlichiosis in a golf-oriented retirement community.	ehrlichiosis due to ehrlichia chaffeensis usually occurs sporadically or in small clusters, with an annual incidence estimated at 3 to 5 cases per 100,000 population in areas of endemic disease. the putative principal vector is the lone star tick (amblyomma americanum). we investigated an outbreak of ehrlichiosis that occurred in june 1993 among members of a golf-oriented retirement community (community a) in tennessee. the community is densely wooded and borders a wildlife-management area where ...	1995	7616991
detection of borrelia lonestari in amblyomma americanum (acari: ixodidae) from tennessee.	genetic sequences characteristic of borrelia lonestari (barbour et al. 1996) were detected in two pools of adult amblyomma americanum (l.) from tennessee, corresponding to an estimated minimum field infection rate of 8.4 infected ticks/1000 adults. dna amplification was conducted using primers derived from the b. lonestari flagellin gene that would also amplify borrelia burgdorferi (johnson, schmid, hyde, steigerwalt, and brenner). species-specific, internal probes were then used to differentiat ...	2003	12597661
detection of borrelia burgdorferi and borrelia lonestari in birds in tennessee.	lyme disease in the united states is caused by the bacterial spirochete borrelia burgdorferi s.s. (johnson, schmid, hyde, steigerwalt, and brenner), which is transmitted by tick vectors ixodes scapularis (say) and i. pacificus (cooley and kohls). borrelia lonestari, transmitted by the tick amblyomma americanum l., may be associated with a related syndrome, southern tick-associated rash illness (stari). borrelia lonestari sequences, reported primarily in the southeastern states, have also been de ...	2009	19198527
rickettsia parkeri in amblyomma americanum ticks, tennessee and georgia, usa.	to determine the geographic distribution of the newly recognized human pathogen rickettsia parkeri, we looked for this organism in ticks from tennessee and georgia, usa. using pcr and sequence analysis, we identified r. parkeri in 2 amblyomma americanum ticks. this rickettsiosis may be underdiagnosed in the eastern united states.	2009	19788817
absence of rickettsia rickettsii and occurrence of other spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks from tennessee.	rocky mountain spotted fever (rmsf) is the most common tick-borne illness in tennessee. little is known about the occurrence of r. rickettsii, the causative agent, in ticks in tennessee. to better understand the prevalence and distribution of rickettsial agents in ticks, we tested 1,265 amblyomma, dermacentor, and ixodes adult and nymphal ticks. additionally, we tested 231 amblyomma americanum larvae. ticks were collected from 49 counties from humans, wild animals, domestic canines, and flannel ...	2010	20810834
high-prevalence borrelia miyamotoi [scapin wild turkeys (meleagris gallopavo) in tennessee.	during spring and fall 2009, 60 wild turkeys (meleagris gallopavo) harvested by tennessee hunters were surveyed for borrelia spp. by sampling their blood, tissue, and attached ticks. in both seasons, 70% of turkeys were infested with juvenile amblyomma americanum; one spring turkey hosted an adult female ixodes brunneus. polymerase chain reaction assays followed by dna sequencing indicated that 58% of the turkeys were positive for the spirochete borrelia miyamotoi, with tissue testing positive m ...	2010	21175079
host associations of dermacentor, amblyomma, and ixodes (acari: ixodidae) ticks in tennessee.	from april 2007 to september 2008, 1,793 adult and nymphal ixodid ticks were collected from 49 counties in tennessee. six species were identified, including dermacentor variabilis (say), amblyomma americanum (l.), ixodes texanus (banks), ixodes cookei packard, ixodes scapularis (say), and amblyomma maculatum koch, from 13 medium- to large-sized mammalian hosts and dragging through vegetation. raccoons were the most common vertebrate source (198 captures), accounting for 60% of ticks collected. d ...	2010	20496589
prevalence of ehrlichia chaffeensis and ehrlichia ewingii in ticks from tennessee.	human ehrlichiosis is the second most common tick-borne disease reported in tennessee after rocky mountain spotted fever. two closely related ehrlichiae, ehrlichia chaffeensis and ehrlichia ewingii, are both causative agents of human disease and are transmitted by amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick. prevalence rates and distribution patterns of these pathogens among ticks in tennessee are currently unknown. to understand prevalence and exposure risk of ehrlichia spp., we tested 616 ticks ( ...	2010	19877819
evaluation of 4-poster acaricide applicators to manage tick populations associated with disease risk in a tennessee retirement community.	in 1993, four residents of a retirement community in middle tennessee were hospitalized with symptoms of ehrlichiosis causing community managers to implement mitigation methods to reduce tick numbers. for the past four years, managers have utilized 4-poster acaricide applicators that aim to reduce disease risk to residents by killing ticks that feed on deer. to determine the efficacy of this technique, we assessed amblyomma americanum abundance in the vicinity of the devices by dragging 400 m ve ...	2011	22129412