Publications

human babesiosis on nantucket island: transmission by nymphal ixodes ticks.	in order to identify potential vectors of human babesiosis (babesia microli) in southern massachusetts, i attempted to transmit the infection via nymphal ticks of that species found to be most abundant on reservoir hosts (peromyscus leucopus) in nature. mice were collected at frequent intervals throughout a year in a known enzootic focus on nantucket island, and ticks were removed by hand. ticks of only two species were present; larvae and nymphs of ixodes scapularis were about 10 times as numer ...	1976	1008124
vegetation structure influences the burden of immature ixodes dammini on its main host, peromyscus leucopus.	to determine whether the relative abundance of immature ixodes dammini (the vector of lyme disease and human babesiosis) is related to habitat structure, we examined tick burdens on their main host, the white-footed mouse (peromyscus leucopus), in 4 structurally diverse sites on great island, massachusetts, usa. vegetation structure at each site was quantified with respect to 25 habitat variables. principal components analysis was used to reduce this set of habitat variables to seven new and ort ...	1992	1437266
comparing the relative potential of rodents as reservoirs of the lyme disease spirochete (borrelia burgdorferi).	the authors compared the contribution of white-footed mice (peromyscus leucopus), chipmunks (tamias striatus), and meadow voles (microtus pennsylvanicus) to infection of vector ticks with the lyme disease spirochete, borrelia burgddorferi. at one massachusetts location where lyme disease is endemic, all three species of rodents were found to be infected. prevalence of infection, however, varied from 90% for mice, and 75% for chipmunks to just 5.5% for meadow voles. infectivity of these hosts for ...	1989	2787105
mice as reservoirs of the lyme disease spirochete.	in evaluating the white-footed mouse as a reservoir host for the lyme disease spirochete, we compared spirochete infection in vector ticks (ixodes dammini) having different histories of attachment to these mice, estimated their relative importance as hosts for immature i. dammini and compared the seasonality of tick activity and spirochetemia in mice. infection in trapped white-footed mice appears to be universal. prevalence of spirochetal infection in i. dammini correlates with frequency of att ...	1985	3985277
vectorial capacity of north american ixodes ticks.	ixodes dammini, the vector of lyme disease and babesiosis, is distributed in various locations in the northeastern quadrant of the united states and nearby canada. the life cycle of this tick, which includes larval, nymphal, and adult stages, spans at least two years. the tick over-winters between larval and nymphal feeding. horizontal transmission of pathogens is facilitated by a feeding pattern in which both the larval and nymphal stages feed on the white-footed mouse, peromyscus leucopus, and ...	1984	6516453
detection of borrelia burgdorferi dna in museum specimens of peromyscus leucopus.	to determine whether borrelia burgdorferi was enzootic within the united states at the beginning of the 20th century, ear skin samples taken from museum specimens of the white-footed mouse (peromyscus leucopus) were examined for evidence of spirochetal dna. in total, 280 samples from mice collected between 1870 and 1919 were analyzed by a nested polymerase chain reaction protocol. of these, 2 specimens from the vicinity of dennis, massachusetts, during 1894 were reproducibly positive for b. burg ...	1994	7930700
field estimates of numbers of ixodes scapularis (acari:ixodidae) larvae and nymphs per hectare successfully feeding on peromyscus leucopus in massachusetts.	the numbers of blacklegged tick, ixodes scapularis say, per hectare that engorged as larvae and nymphs on white-footed mice, peromyscus leucopus (rafinesque), were estimated at 3 sites in coastal massachusetts. estimates of numbers of engorged ticks dropping per day from trapped mice were multiplied by mark-recapture estimates of the density (numbers per hectare) of white-footed mice to estimate numbers of ticks engorging on mice per hectare. in 1991, estimates of seasonal totals per hectare of ...	1996	8840688
cosegregation of a novel bartonella species with borrelia burgdorferi and babesia microti in peromyscus leucopus.	during surveillance for various tickborne pathogens in the upper midwest during the summer and early fall of 1995, a bartonella-like agent was detected in the blood of mice that were concurrently infected with borrelia burgdorferi or babesia microti (or both). the organism was isolated in pure culture after inoculation of blood from wild-caught mice into c.b-17 scid/scid mice. phylogenetic analysis of the 16s rrna and the citrate synthase genes showed that the novel bartonella species and a bart ...	1998	9466529
enzootic transmission of deer tick virus in new england and wisconsin sites.	to determine whether rodents that are intensely exposed to the deer tick-transmitted agents of lyme disease, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, and human babesiosis are also exposed to deer tick virus (dtv), we assayed serum samples from white-footed mice (peromyscus leucopus) and meadow voles (microtus pennsylvanicus) in sites densely infested by deer ticks. to conduct serosurveys, we developed an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) and western blot assay by cloning, expressing, and purifyi ...	2000	11357992