| babesia microti and borrelia bissettii transmission by ixodes spinipalpis ticks among prairie voles, microtus ochrogaster, in colorado. | an endemic transmission cycle of babesia microti was discovered in colorado in the foothills of the rocky mountains. b. microti were found by pcr in 4 of 25 ixodes spinipalpis tick pools tested (a 3.2 % minimum infection rate) and in 87% (13 of 15) of microtus ochrogaster (the prairie vole) spleen and blood samples. using naturally infected i. spinipalpis collected from wild-caught m. ochrogaster as vectors, b. microti and borrelia bissettii were successfully transmitted to laboratory-born m. oc ... | 2000 | 11155930 |
| use of a sentinel host system to study the questing behavior of ixodes spinipalpis and its role in the transmission of borrelia bissettii, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, and babesia microti. | ixodes spinipalpis maintains borrelia bissettii spirochetes in colorado in a cycle involving wood rats and deer mice. this tick has been described as nidicolous, remaining either attached to its rodent hosts or in the rodent nest. nidicolous ticks pose little risk of pathogen transmission to humans if they do not actively quest for hosts. to investigate the questing potential of i. spinipalpis, sentinel mice were placed in an area where i. spinipalpis had been commonly found on wood rats and dee ... | 2001 | 11693872 |