Spatial clustering of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato within populations of Allen's chipmunks and dusky-footed woodrats in northwestern California.

The ecology of Lyme borreliosis is complex in northwestern California, with several potential reservoir hosts, tick vectors, and genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. The primary objective of this study was to determine the fine-scale spatial distribution of different genospecies in four rodent species, the California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi), northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), dusky-footed woodrat (Neotoma fuscipes), and Allen's chipmunk (Neotamias senex). Rodents were live-trapped between June 2004 and May 2005 at the Hoopa Valley Tribal Reservation (HVTR) in Humboldt County, California.

Differential exposure to Anaplasma phagocytophilum in rodent species in northern California.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is a zoonotic tick-borne rickettsial pathogen that causes granulocytic anaplasmosis (GA) in humans, horses, and dogs. In California, dusky-footed woodrats (Neotoma fuscipes) are a putative reservoir host, and Ixodes pacificus is a vector for transmission from rodents to humans, dogs, and horses. Cases are clustered in coastal and Sierra Nevada foothill regions, but not necessarily in proximity to infected woodrats.

Survey for zoonotic rickettsial pathogens in northern flying squirrels, Glaucomys sabrinus, in California.

Epidemic typhus, caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, is maintained in a southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) sylvatic cycle in the southeastern United States. The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) has not been previously associated with R. prowazekii transmission.