Earliest records of the Asian longhorned tick (Acari: Ixodidae) in Staten Island, New York, and subsequent population establishment, with a review of its potential medical and veterinary importance in the United States.

Three Asian longhorned ticks (Haemaphysalis longicornis) were collected on Staten Island, Richmond County, New York, in 2014-2015 as part of a tick-borne disease surveillance program conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Defense Centers of Public Health - Aberdeen Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory. These records mark the earliest known occurrence of H. longicornis in New York State outside of quarantine areas, predating previously reported detections by several years.

Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) Ticks Are Not Vectors of the Lyme Disease Agent, Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirocheatales: Spirochaetaceae): A Review of the Evidence.

In the early 1980s, Ixodes spp. ticks were implicated as the key North American vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt and Brenner) (Spirocheatales: Spirochaetaceae), the etiological agent of Lyme disease. Concurrently, other human-biting tick species were investigated as potential B.

Prevalence, Distribution, and Development of an Ecological Niche Model of Dermacentor variabilis Ticks Positive for Rickettsia montanensis.

Rickettsia montanensis has long been considered a nonpathogenic member of the spotted fever group rickettsiae. However, the infection potential of R. montanensis is being revisited in light of its recent association with a case of human infection in the United States and the possibility that additional cases may have been misdiagnosed as Rocky Mountain spotted fever.

Review of the Mid-Atlantic Tick Summit III: A model for regional information sharing.

Ticks are the most significant vectors of infectious diseases in the United States, inspiring many researchers to study aspects of their biology, ecology, and their effects on public health. However, regional differences in tick abundance and pathogen infection prevalence result in the inability to assume results from one area are relevant in another. Current local information on tick ranges, infection rates, and human cases is needed to assess tick-borne disease risk in any given region.

Characterizing the relationship between tick bites and Lyme disease in active component U.S. Armed Forces in the eastern United States.

Lyme disease (LD) is the most commonly diagnosed vector-borne illness in the U.S. Analysis of ticks that are removed from patients (rather than collected from the environment) may inform LD surveillance.

Borrelia burgdorferi not confirmed in human-biting Amblyomma americanum ticks from the southeastern United States.

The predominant human-biting tick throughout the southeastern United States is Amblyomma americanum. Its ability to transmit pathogens causing Lyme disease-like illnesses is a subject of ongoing controversy. Results of previous testing by the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program and other laboratories indicated that it is highly unlikely that A.

Ehrlichia and spotted fever group Rickettsiae surveillance in Amblyomma americanum in Virginia through use of a novel six-plex real-time PCR assay.

The population of the lone star tick Amblyomma americanum has expanded in North America over the last several decades. It is known to be an aggressive and nondiscriminatory biter and is by far the most common human-biting tick encountered in Virginia. Few studies of human pathogen prevalence in ticks have been conducted in our state since the mid-twentieth century.

Exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi and other tick-borne pathogens in Gettysburg National Military Park, South-Central Pennsylvania, 2009.

Since 1998, Lyme disease cases have increased in south-central Pennsylvania, which includes Gettysburg National Military Park (NMP). Limited information is available about tick populations or pathogens in this area, and no data regarding frequency of tick bites or prevention measures among Gettysburg NMP employees are available. To address these gaps, ticks were collected, classified, and replaced (to minimize disruptions to tick populations) at two sites within Gettysburg NMP during April-September, 2009, among eight nonremoval samplings.

Detection of Rickettsia parkeri and Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae in Amblyomma maculatum Gulf Coast ticks collected from humans in the United States.

Rickettsia parkeri, a spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsia recently found to be pathogenic to humans, causes an eschar-associated febrile illness. The R. parkeri rickettsiosis, Tidewater spotted fever, has been misdiagnosed as Rocky Mountain spotted fever due to serologic cross reactivity and the lack of specific diagnostic methods.

Short report: New spotted fever group Rickettsia in a Rhipicephalus turanicus tick removed from a child in eastern Sicily, Italy.

A new genotype of spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) was identified in Rhipicephalus turanicus from eastern Sicily. On the basis of current molecular criteria, the genetic characteristics obtained from multiple locus sequence typing satisfy the requirements for Candidatus status of this SFGR. Further detection and identification of this SFGR during entomological and clinical surveys will be required to establish the prevalence of this Rickettsia and its potential pathogenicity for humans.

Infrequency of Rickettsia rickettsii in Dermacentor variabilis removed from humans, with comments on the role of other human-biting ticks associated with spotted fever group Rickettsiae in the United States.

From 1997 to 2009, the Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory of the U.S. Army Public Health Command (USAPHC) (formerly the U.

Development of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for rapid detection of Ehrlichia ruminantium.

Background: The rickettsial bacterium Ehrlichia ruminantium is the causative agent of heartwater, a potential zoonotic disease of ruminants transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma. The disease is distributed in nearly all of sub-Saharan Africa and some islands of the Caribbean, from where it threatens the American mainland. This report describes the development of two different loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assays for sensitive and specific detection of E.

Molecular detection of Rickettsia amblyommii in Amblyomma americanum parasitizing humans.

A quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay to detect and quantify a portion of the outer membrane protein B gene (ompB) of Rickettsia amblyommii was employed to assess the threat of R. amblyommii exposure to humans parasitized by Amblyomma americanum (the lone star tick). A total of 72 pools of lone star ticks removed from humans were acquired from two collections and used in this study: 44 pools of A.

Prospective health assessment of Fort Campbell, Kentucky patrons bitten by ticks.

Amblyomma americanum is an aggressive human-biting tick that transmits several known human pathogens and is associated with a Lyme disease-like illness of unknown etiology. To determine the frequency, distinguishing clinical characteristics, and etiology ofA. americanum-associated illness and identify associated risk factors, a prospective study of adult tick-bite victims was conducted at Fort Campbell from 2005-2007.

Geographic distribution and genetic diversity of the Ehrlichia sp. from Panola Mountain in Amblyomma americanum.

Background: A novel Ehrlichia, closely related to Ehrlichia ruminantium, was recently discovered from Panola Mountain State Park, GA, USA. We conducted a study to determine if this agent was recently introduced into the United States.

Methods: We developed a sensitive PCR assay based on the conserved gltA (citrate synthase) gene and tested DNA samples extracted from 1964 field-collected and 1835 human-biting Amblyomma americanum from 23 eastern states of the USA.

Rickettsia amblyommii infecting Amblyomma americanum larvae.

Polymerase chain reaction analysis of Amblyomma americanum adults, nymphs, and larvae from Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD (APG), revealed a very high prevalence of a spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsia. Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and sequence analysis identified "Rickettsia amblyommii." This organism is not yet described or well studied, and its pathogenicity is unknown; however, investigations of the organism are warranted because of its high prevalence in A.

Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum) and Rickettsia parkeri, United States.

Geographic distribution of Rickettsia parkeri in its US tick vector, Amblyomma maculatum, was evaluated by PCR. R. parkeri was detected in ticks from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, which suggests that A.

A preliminary investigation of Ehrlichia species in ticks, humans, dogs, and capybaras from Brazil.

A molecular epidemiologic investigation in two Brazilian states (Rondônia and São Paulo) was undertaken to determine if Ehrlichia species responsible for human and animal ehrlichioses in North America could be found in Brazilian vectors, potential natural mammalian reservoirs and febrile human patients with a tick bite history. Samples, including 376 ticks comprising 9 Amblyomma species, 29 capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) spleens, 5 canine blood, and 75 human blood samples from febrile patients with history of tick bites were tested by a real-time PCR assay targeting a fragment of the Ehrlichia dsb gene. Ehrlichia DNA was not detected in any tick, capybara or human samples.

Evidence of Borrelia lonestari DNA in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) removed from humans.

We used a nested PCR with Borrelia flagellin gene (flaB) primers and DNA sequencing to determine if Borrelia lonestari was present in Amblyomma americanum ticks removed from military personnel and sent to the Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine.