The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) vectors several bacterial, protozoan, and viral human pathogens. The known distribution, abundance, and phenology of I. scapularis within its estimated range are incomplete.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness and sixth most commonly reported notifiable infectious disease in the United States. The majority of cases occur in the Northeast and upper-Midwest, and the number and geographic distribution of cases is steadily increasing. The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) is the principal vector of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto) in eastern North America.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe primary aim of this study was to determine if the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus (Skuse)) (Diptera: Culicidae), that vectors a number of arboviruses, is parasitized by water mites (Acari: Prostigmata: Parasitengonina: Hydrachnidiae). Larval water mite parasitism of adult mosquitoes has been shown to reduce mosquito fecundity and life span in the laboratory, and impact some populations in the field. Water mites have been considered for biocontrol purposes and used to age-grade mosquito populations.
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