Publications

the rare ospc allele l of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, commonly found among samples collected in a coastal plain area of the southeastern united states, is associated with ixodes affinis ticks and local rodent hosts peromyscus gossypinus and sigmodon hispidus.	the rare ospc allele l was detected in 30% of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto strains cultured from a tick species, ixodes affinis, and two rodent host species, peromyscus gossypinus and sigmodon hispidus, collected in a coastal plain area of georgia and south carolina, in the southeastern united states.	2013	23220965
an enzootic transmission cycle of lyme borreliosis spirochetes in the southeastern united states.	lyme borreliosis, or lyme disease (ld), is a tick-borne zoonotic infection of biomedical significance, caused by borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) spirochetes and transmitted by ixodes species ticks. it usually circulates among wildlife vertebrate reservoirs and vector ticks but may infect humans, causing multisystem problems. in far western and northern north america, the host reservoirs, tick vectors, and genospecies of borrelia are well known but not so in the southern u.s., where there ...	2003	14500917
prevalence of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection among rodents and host-seeking ticks in south carolina.	tissues of rodents and host-seeking adult ticks collected in the piedmont, sandhills, coastal plain, and coastal zone of south carolina were cultured in attempts to isolate borrelia burgdorferi (johnson, schmid, hyde, steigerwalt & brenner), the etiologic agent of lyme disease. an exploratory, tree-based statistical analysis was used to identify ecological variables that were associated with spirochete infection among rodents and ticks. spirochetes were isolated from tissues of 71 rodents: 22 (6 ...	2002	11931257
genetic heterogeneity of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the southern united states based on restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequence analysis.	fifty-six strains of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, isolated from ticks and vertebrate animals in missouri, south carolina, georgia, florida, and texas, were identified and characterized by pcr-restriction fragment length polymorphism (rflp) analysis of rrf (5s)-rrl (23s) intergenic spacer amplicons. a total of 241 to 258 bp of intergenic spacers between tandemly duplicated rrf (5s) and rrl (23s) was amplified by pcr. msei and drai restriction fragment polymorphisms were used to analyze these ...	2001	11427560
host associations of ticks parasitizing rodents at borrelia burgdorferi enzootic sites in south carolina.	a total of 237 rodents was collected in 4 regions of south carolina from july 1994 through december 1995. eight species were collected, including cotton mouse, hispid cotton rat, eastern woodrat, marsh rice rat, white-footed mouse, eastern harvest mouse, golden mouse, and black rat. of the 1,514 ticks recovered from these hosts, ixodes minor neumann, including larvae, nymphs, and adults, was the most abundant species, representing 54% of the total. only immature stages of other tick species were ...	2001	11780825
isolation, cultivation, and characterization of borrelia burgdorferi from rodents and ticks in the charleston area of south carolina.	twenty-eight borrelia burgdorferi isolates from the charleston, s.c., area are described. this represents the first report and characterization of the lyme disease spirochete from that state. the isolates were obtained from december 1994 through december 1995 from the tick ixodes scapularis, collected from vegetation, and from the rodents peromyscus gossypinus (cotton mouse), neotoma floridana (eastern wood rat), and sigmodon hispidus (cotton rat). all isolates were screened immunologically by i ...	2000	10618074
rodent ectoparasites from two locations in northwestern florida.	from feb.-apr. 1999, 19 species of ectoparasitic arthropods (2 sucking lice, 4 fleas, 4 ticks, 2 mesostigmatid mites, 5 chiggers, 2 fur mites) were recovered from 106 rodents belonging to 5 species (cotton mouse, peromyscus gossypinus, n = 64; cotton rat, sigmodon hispidus, n = 23; eastern woodrat, neotoma floridana, n = 9; golden mouse, ochrotomys nuttalli, n = 9; eastern gray squirrel, sciurus carolinensis, n = 1) at tall timbers research station, leon county, florida. during the same period, ...	2000	11217221
natural occurrence and characterization of the lyme disease spirochete, borrelia burgdorferi, in cotton rats (sigmodon hispidus) from georgia and florida.	this is the first report of natural infection by borrelia burgdorferi in the cotton rat sigmodon hispidus. nine b. burgdorferi isolates were obtained from ear tissues, urinary bladders, or both, by culturing tissues in bskii medium. the rat from which the si-3 isolate was cultured was from the same site (sapelo island, georgia) as an infected cotton mouse peromyscus gossypinus and ixodes scapularis tick reported previously. the 8 b. burgdorferi isolates from rats in florida included 1 (ai-1) fro ...	1995	7876974
etiologic agent of lyme disease, borrelia burgdorferi, detected in ticks (acari: ixodidae) collected at a focus in alabama.	the study was conducted at sites of known transmission of borrelia burgdorferi in east central alabama. the objectives were to determine species of ticks present at these sites, their host associations, and species of ticks and small mammals naturally infected with b. burgdorferi. a total of 451 hosts were examined for ticks, including cotton mice, peromyscus gossypinus (le conte); cotton rats, sigmodon hispidus say & ord; southern short-tailed shrews, blarina carolinensis (bachman); house mice, ...	1991	1941933
susceptibility of the hispid cotton rat (sigmodon hispidus) to the lyme disease spirochete (borrelia burgdorferi).	the susceptibility of the hispid cotton rat, sigmodon hispidus, to the lyme disease spirochete, borrelia burgdorferi, was investigated by inoculating rats with infected tick suspensions or by allowing infected ixodes scapularis nymphs to feed on them. culture of blood samples in bsk ii medium demonstrated that cotton rats developed spirochetemias that lasted for a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks and were of sufficient concentration to infect simultaneously feeding normal i. scapularis nymphs. the spiroc ...	1987	3688316