| distribution, abundance, and seasonal activities of ticks collected from rodents and vegetation in south carolina. | ixodid ticks were collected from live-trapped rodents and by flagging vegetation at sites in the piedmont, sandhills, coastal plain, and coastal zone of south carolina from may 1994 through december 1995. a total of 1,514 ticks was recovered from 237 live-trapped rodents. host-attached species included ixodes minor neumann (n = 818), dermacentor variabilis (say) (n = 346), amblyomma maculatum koch (n = 209), ixodes affinis neumann (n = 89), and ixodes scapularis say (n = 52). species of questing ... | 1998 | 9673934 |
| molecular genetic key for the identification of 17 ixodes species of the united states (acari:ixodidae): a methods model. | a taxonomic key, based on restriction enzyme analysis of the second internal-transcribed spacer (its-2) in the nuclear ribosomal dna gene, was developed for identification of 17 ixodes tick species in the united states. this key includes: ixodes affinis neumann, ixodes angustus neumann, ixodes baergi cooley and kohls, ixodes brunneus koch, ixodes cookei packard, ixodes dentatus marx, ixodes jellisoni cooley and kohls, ixodes kingi bishopp, ixodes minor neumann, ixodes muris bishopp and smith, ix ... | 1999 | 10461941 |
| ticks of south carolina (acari: ixodoidea). | county and host records are reported for 19 species of ticks from south carolina: amblyomma americanum, amblyomma maculatum, amblyomma tuberculatum, aponomma latum, boophilus annulatus, boophilus microplus, dermacentor albipictus, dermacentor variablis, haemaphysalis leporispalustris, ixodes affinis, ixodes brunneus, ixodes cookei, ixodes marxi, ixodes minor, ixodes scapularis, ixodes texanus, ixodes woodi, rhipicephalus sanguineus, and ornithodoros capensis. ixodes woodi is recorded from south ... | 1999 | 10672552 |
| a review of the ticks (acari, ixodida) of brazil, their hosts and geographic distribution - 1. the state of rio grande do sul, southern brazil. | a review of the ticks (acari, ixodida) of the state of rio grande do sul, southern brazil, was completed as a step towards a definitive list (currently indicated as 12) of such species, their hosts and distribution. the ticks: argas miniatus (poultry), ixodes loricatus (opossums), amblyomma aureolatum (dogs), a. calcaratum (anteaters), a. cooperi (capybaras), a. nodosum (anteaters), a. tigrinum (dogs) (neotropical) and rhipicephalus sanguineus (dogs) (introduced, cosmopolitan, afrotropical) were ... | 2000 | 10904399 |
| ticks (acari: ixodidae) and spirochetes (spirochaetaceae: spirochaetales) recovered from birds on a georgia barrier island. | from september 1997 through july 1999, 300 individuals and 46 species of birds were mist-netted and screened for ticks and spirochetes on st. catherine's island, liberty county, ga. seventy-six (25%) of the birds were parasitized by a meal intensity of 4.6 ticks. seasonally, more birds were infested with ticks during the summer (50% in 1998, 34% in 1999) than in spring (15% in 1998, 11% in 1999) or fall (21% in 1997, 20% in 1998), mainly because of severe infestations on some birds by immature s ... | 2001 | 11296828 |
| 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 |
| ixodid ticks on white-tailed deer and feral swine in florida. | a state-wide survey was conducted in florida during the 1997-99 hunting seasons to examine white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus) and feral swine (sus scrofa) for potential indigenous vectors of the rickettsial agent of heartwater, cowdria ruminantium. a total of 504 white-tailed deer and 166 feral swine was examined from 30 wildlife management areas across the state. amblyomma maculatum, an experimental vector of c. ruminantium, was common on both deer and feral swine throughout the state. ... | 2001 | 11469190 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| detection of borrelia lonestari, putative agent of southern tick-associated rash illness, in white-tailed deer (odocoileus virginianus) from the southeastern united states. | to determine if white-tailed deer may serve as a reservoir host for borrelia lonestari, we used a nested pcr for the borrelia flagellin gene to evaluate blood samples collected from deer from eight southeastern states. seven of 80 deer (8.7%) from 5 of 17 sites (29.4%) had sequence-confirmed evidence of a b. lonestari flagellin gene by pcr, indicating that deer are infected with b. lonestari or another closely related borrelia species. our findings expand the known geographic range of b. lonesta ... | 2003 | 12517884 |
| 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 |
| borrelia species in host-seeking ticks and small mammals in northern florida. | the aim of this study was to improve understanding of several factors related to the ecology and environmental risk of borrelia infection in northern florida. small mammals and host-seeking adult ticks were collected at several sites, and specimens were tested for the presence of borrelia species, primarily by pcr amplification. tissues from some vertebrates and ticks were initially cultured in bsk-h medium to isolate spirochetes, but none were recovered. however, comparison of partial flagellin ... | 2004 | 15528699 |
| molecular identification and analysis of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in lizards in the southeastern united states. | lyme borreliosis (lb) group spirochetes, collectively known as borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, are distributed worldwide. wild rodents are acknowledged as the most important reservoir hosts. ixodes scapularis is the primary vector of b. burgdorferi sensu lato in the eastern united states, and in the southeastern united states, the larvae and nymphs mostly parasitize certain species of lizards. the primary aim of the present study was to determine whether wild lizards in the southeastern united ... | 2005 | 15870353 |
| confirmation of tick bite by detection of antibody to ixodes calreticulin salivary protein. | ticks introduce a variety of pharmacologically active molecules into their host during attachment and feeding in order to obtain a blood meal. people who are repeatedly exposed to ticks may develop an immune response to tick salivary proteins. despite this response, people usually are unaware of having been bitten, especially if they are not repeatedly exposed to ticks. in order to develop a laboratory marker of tick exposure that would be useful in understanding the epidemiology of tick-borne i ... | 2006 | 16928887 |
| borrelia carolinensis sp. nov., a new (14th) member of the borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex from the southeastern region of the united states. | approximately 118 borrelia isolates were cultured from a variety of rodents, birds, and ticks collected in the southern united states. in addition to a highly diverse group of borrelia bissettii strains and a homogenous group of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto strains, a group of 16 isolates with unusual characteristics was found. the isolates were cultured from ear biopsy samples of the rodents peromyscus gossypinus and neotoma floridana trapped at five localities in south carolina. a multil ... | 2009 | 19020062 |
| delineation of a new species of the borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, borrelia americana sp. nov. | analysis of borrelia isolates collected from ticks, birds, and rodents from the southeastern united states revealed the presence of well-established populations of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, borrelia bissettii, borrelia carolinensis, and borrelia sp. nov. multilocus sequence analysis of five genomic loci from seven samples representing borrelia sp. nov. isolated from nymphal ixodes minor collected in south carolina showed their close relatedness to california strains known as genomospec ... | 2009 | 19846628 |
| recent discovery of widespread ixodes affinis (acari: ixodidae) distribution in north carolina with implications for lyme disease studies. | ixodes affinis, which is similar morphologically to ixodes scapularis, is widely distributed in north carolina. collections have documented this species in 32 of 41 coastal plain counties, but no piedmont or mountain counties. this coastal plain distribution is similar to its distribution in georgia and south carolina, where it is considered an enzootic vector of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. an updated list of hosts for i. affinis in the u.s.a. is included, increasing the number to 15 mam ... | 2010 | 20618664 |
| borrelia species in ixodes affinis and ixodes scapularis ticks collected from the coastal plain of north carolina. | ixodes affinis and i. scapularis are tick species that are widely distributed in the coastal plain region of north carolina. both tick species are considered enzootic vectors for spirochetal bacteria of the genus borrelia and specifically for b. burgdorferi s.s., the pathogen most often attributed as the cause of lyme disease in the usa. laboratory testing of individual i. affinis and i. scapularis ticks for the presence of borrelia dna was accomplished by pcr, targeting 2 regions of the 16s-23s ... | 2010 | 21771524 |
| Widespread dispersal of Borrelia burgdorferi-infected ticks collected from songbirds across Canada. | Abstract Millions of Lyme disease vector ticks are dispersed annually by songbirds across Canada, but often overlooked as the source of infection. For clarity on vector distribution, we sampled 481 ticks (12 species and 3 undetermined ticks) from 211 songbirds (42 species/subspecies) nationwide. Using PCR, 52 (29.5%) of 176 Ixodes ticks tested were positive for the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. Immature blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, collected from infested songbird ... | 2011 | 21864130 |
| ixodes affinis (acari: ixodidae) in southeastern virginia and implications for the spread of borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of lyme disease. | | 2011 | 22129422 |
| ticks and spotted fever group rickettsiae of southeastern virginia. | the incidence of tick-borne rickettsial disease in the southeastern united states has been rising steadily through the past decade, and the range expansions of tick species and tick-borne infectious agents, new and old, has resulted in an unprecedented mix of vectors and pathogens. the results of an ongoing 4-year surveillance project describe the relative abundance of questing tick populations in southeastern virginia. since 2009, more than 66,000 questing ticks of 7 species have been collected ... | 2013 | 24201057 |
| single-tube real-time pcr assay for differentiation of ixodes affinis and ixodes scapularis. | ixodes affinis neumann (1899) and ixodes scapularis say (1821) are tick vectors of the etiologic agent of lyme disease, borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. ixodes affinis and i. scapularis are morphologically very similar, and as they are sympatric in the mid- and south-atlantic u.s. coastal states, their accurate identification is crucial to studies of disease and vector ecology in this area. this work describes a rapid, single-tube sybr(®) green-based real-time pcr assay for differentiation of ... | 2013 | 24192510 |
| detection of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto ospc alleles associated with human lyme borreliosis worldwide in non-human-biting tick ixodes affinis and rodent hosts in southeastern united states. | comparative analysis of ospc genes from 127 borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto strains collected in european and north american regions where lyme disease is endemic and where it is not endemic revealed a close relatedness of geographically distinct populations. ospc alleles a, b, and l were detected on both continents in vectors and hosts, including humans. six ospc alleles, a, b, l, q, r, and v, were prevalent in europe; 4 of them were detected in samples of human origin. ten ospc alleles, a, ... | 2013 | 23263953 |
| 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 |
| invasive potential of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto ospc type l strains increases the possible disease risk to humans in the regions of their distribution. | analysis of borrelia burgdorferi ospc types from the southeastern u.s.a. supported the common belief that various ospc types are geographically restricted and host specific. being widely distributed in the region, the southeastern population of b. burgdorferi is represented by a surprisingly small number of ospc types. types b, g and h are dominant or common and are invasive, while scarce type l, restricted mostly to the southeastern u.s.a., is believed to rarely if ever cause human lyme disease ... | 2014 | 25430588 |
| population and demographic structure of ixodes scapularis say in the eastern united states. | the most significant vector of tick-borne pathogens in the united states is ixodes scapularis say (the blacklegged tick). previous studies have identified significant genetic, behavioral and morphological differences between northern vs. southern populations of this tick. because tick-borne pathogens are dependent on their vectors for transmission, a baseline understanding of the vector population structure is crucial to determining the risks and epidemiology of pathogen transmission. | 2014 | 25025532 |
| detection of lyme borrelia in questing ixodes scapularis (acari: ixodidae) and small mammals in louisiana. | lyme borreliosis is caused by spirochetes from the borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex. in the united states, b. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.; johnson, schmid, hyde, steigerwalt, and brenner) is the most common cause of human lyme borreliosis. with >25,000 cases reported annually, it is the most common vector-borne disease in the united states. although approximately 90% of cases are contained to the northeastern and great lake states, areas in canada and some southern states are ... | 2014 | 24605479 |
| exploratory spatial analysis of lyme disease in texas -what can we learn from the reported cases? | lyme disease (ld) is a tick-borne zoonotic illness caused by the bacterium borrelia burgdorferi. texas is considered a non-endemic state for ld and the spatial distribution of the state's reported ld cases is unknown. | 2015 | 26386670 |
| variation in the microbiota of ixodes ticks with regard to geography, species, and sex. | ixodes scapularis is the principal vector of lyme disease on the east coast and in the upper midwest regions of the united states, yet the tick is also present in the southeast, where lyme disease is absent or rare. a closely related species, i. affinis, also carries the pathogen in the south but does not seem to transmit it to humans. in order to better understand the geographic diversity of the tick, we analyzed the microbiota of 104 adult i. scapularis and 13 adult i. affinis ticks captured i ... | 2015 | 26150449 |
| comparative population genetics of two invading ticks: evidence of the ecological mechanisms underlying tick range expansions. | two species of ixodid tick, ixodes affinis neumann and amblyomma maculatum koch, are simultaneously expanding their ranges throughout the mid-atlantic region of the us. although we have some understanding of the ecology and life history of these species, the ecological mechanisms governing where and how new populations establish and persist are unclear. to assess population connectivity and ancestry, we sequenced a fragment of the 16s mitochondrial rrna gene from a representative sample of indiv ... | 2015 | 26254575 |
| host body size and the diversity of tick assemblages on neotropical vertebrates. | identifying the factors that influence the species diversity and distribution of ticks (acari: ixodida) across vertebrate host taxa is of fundamental ecological and medical importance. host body size is considered one of the most important determinants of tick abundance, with larger hosts having higher tick burdens. the species diversity of tick assemblages should also be greater on larger-bodied host species, but empirical studies testing this hypothesis are lacking. here, we evaluate this rela ... | 2016 | 27812506 |
| host specificity in a diverse neotropical tick community: an assessment using quantitative network analysis and host phylogeny. | host specificity is a fundamental determinant of tick population and pathogen transmission dynamics, and therefore has important implications for human health. tick host specificity is expected to be particularly high in the tropics, where communities of ticks, hosts and pathogens are most diverse. yet the degree to which tropical tick species are host-specific remains poorly understood. combining new field data with published records, we assessed the specificity of tick-host associations in pan ... | 2016 | 27357506 |
| ticks and rickettsiae from wildlife in belize, central america. | the agents of spotted fevers in latin america are rickettsia rickettsii, r. parkeri, rickettsia sp. strain atlantic rainforest, and r. massiliae. in continental central america, r. rickettsii remains the only known pathogenic tick-borne rickettsia. in the present study, ticks were collected from wild mammals in natural areas of belize. besides providing new data of ticks from belize, we investigated rickettsial infection in some of these ticks. our results provide ticks harboring rickettsial age ... | 2016 | 26831147 |
| questing amblyomma mixtum and haemaphysalis juxtakochi (acari: ixodidae) infected with candidatus "rickettsia amblyommii" from the natural environment in panama canal basin, panama. | this work emphasizes the detection of candidatus "rickettsia amblyommii" in questing haemaphysalis juxtakochi and amblyomma mixtum. from february 2009 to december 2012, questing ticks were collected from the vegetation and leaf-litter of four protected forests and two grassy areas around the panama canal basin. dna was extracted from amblyomma mixtum, amblyomma naponense, amblyomma oblongoguttatum, amblyomma pecarium, amblyomma tapirellum, haemaphysalis juxtakochi, and unidentified immature ambl ... | 2015 | 26865823 |
| molecular ecological insights into neotropical bird-tick interactions. | in the tropics, ticks parasitize many classes of vertebrate hosts. however, because many tropical tick species are only identifiable in the adult stage, and these adults usually parasitize mammals, most attention on the ecology of tick-host interactions has focused on mammalian hosts. in contrast, immature neotropical ticks are often found on wild birds, yet difficulties in identifying immatures hinder studies of birds' role in tropical tick ecology and tick-borne disease transmission. in panama ... | 2016 | 27203693 |
| borrelia burgdorferi dna absent, multiple rickettsia spp. dna present in ticks collected from a teaching forest in north central florida. | tick-borne diseases are an emerging public health threat in the united states. in florida, there has been public attention directed towards the possibility of locally acquired borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative agent of lyme disease, in association with the lone star tick. the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of ticks and the pathogens they carry and potentially transmit, such as b. burgdorferi, in a highly utilized teaching and research forest in north central fl ... | 2017 | 27720381 |
| new records of ixodes affinis (acari: ixodidae) parasitizing avian hosts in southeastern virginia. | ixodes affinis neumann (acari: ixodidae) is a hard-bodied tick species distributed throughout much of the southeastern united states. although i. affinis does not parasitize humans, it is a competent vector of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative-agent of lyme disease, and thus contributes to the enzootic maintenance of this pathogen. this study presents evidence of i. affinis parasitizing five new host passerine species. during 2012-2014, 1,888 birds were captured and examined for ... | 2016 | 26586535 |
| molecular identification and bioinformatics analysis of a potential anti-vector vaccine candidate, 15-kda salivary gland protein (salp15), from ixodes affinis ticks. | salp15, a 15-kda salivary gland protein plays an important role in tick blood-feeding and transmission of borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of lyme borreliosis. the comparative studies reveal that salp15 is a genetically conserved protein across various ixodes species. in this study, we have identified a salp15 homolog, designated as iaff15, from ixodes affinis ticks that are the principal enzootic vectors of b. burgdorferi sensu stricto in the southeastern part of the united states. com ... | 2016 | 26296588 |
| distribution of spotted fever group rickettsiae in hard ticks (ixodida: ixodidae) from panamanian urban and rural environments (2007-2013). | tick-borne rickettsiosis is an important emerging disease in panama; to date, there have been 12 confirmed cases, including eight fatalities. to evaluate the distribution of rickettsiae in panamanian ticks, we collected questing and on-host ticks in urban and rural towns in elevations varying between 0 and 2300 m. a total of 63 sites (13 urban and 50 rural towns) were used to develop models of spatial distributions. we found the following tick species: rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. (present in 5 ... | 2016 | 27068930 |
| validation of the taxon ixodes aragaoi fonseca (acari: ixodidae) based on morphological and molecular data. | the species ixodes aragaoi fonseca was described as ixodes ricinus aragaoi, and later placed in synonymy with ixodes affinis. however, this synonymy was rejected and the subspecies was elevated to species, and named as i. aragaoi. some researchers did not consider the validity of i. aragaoi and maintained the synonymy proposed until 1998 when i. aragaoi was revalidated, and it was suggested that ixodes pararicinus could be a synonym. the aim of this study was to confirm the taxonomic validity of ... | 2014 | 25283212 |
| natural history of ixodes affinis in virginia. | the ixodid tick species ixodes affinis is expanding its range northward, changing the tick community population dynamics in the mid-atlantic united states. we present five years of surveillance on newly established populations of i. affinis throughout southeastern virginia and discuss the habitat and host associations of i. affinis in this northernmost extent of its range. we found that i. affinis populations tend to persist once they are established, and populations tend to increase as ecologic ... | 2018 | 29030315 |
| ixodes affinis neumann (acari: ixodidae): new host and distribution records, description of immatures, seasonal activities in georgia, and laboratory rearing. | new host and distributional records, seasonal activities in georgia, laboratory rearing data, and taxonomic description of nymphal and larval ixodes affinis are presented. our data expand the list of known natural hosts of this species, record for the first time several natural hosts of larvae and nymphs, provide information on feeding periods of all stages, preecdysial intervals, preovipositional, ovipositional, and incubational periods, as well as provide information on fecundity. the immature ... | 1987 | 3598811 |