Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) distribution surveys in the Chicago metropolitan region.

Considering recent studies confirming an increased risk of contracting Lyme disease near metropolitan Chicago, we surveyed a more comprehensive area to assess whether the geographical distribution and establishment of Ixodes scapularis (Say) populations across northeast Illinois are widespread or limited in occurrence. From May through October 2008 and from April through October 2009, 602 I. scapularis ticks of all three life stages (larva, nymph, adult) were collected from sites in Cook, DuPage, Lake, and McHenry counties in northeast Illinois.

Ixodes scapularis and Borrelia burgdorferi among diverse habitats within a natural area in east-central Illinois.

The distributions of the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, and of the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), have continued expanding in Illinois over the past 20 years, but the extent of their spread is not well known. The role of multiple habitats in the establishment and maintenance of I. scapularis and Bb at local scales is not well understood, and the use of integrated approaches to evaluate local scale dynamics is rare.