| bacterial pathogens in ixodid ticks from a piedmont county in north carolina: prevalence of rickettsial organisms. | in north carolina, reported human cases of tick-borne illness, specifically rocky mountain spotted fever, have escalated over the past decade. to determine the relative abundance of vectors and to estimate the risk of acquiring a tick-borne illness in peri-residential landscapes, ticks were collected in chatham county, a typical piedmont county and, samples of the ticks were tested for infection with selected bacterial pathogens using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays. tick ... | 2010 | 20455778 |