Publications by authors named "K Reif"
Mosquitoes transmit pathogens that negatively affect human and animal health. A greater understanding of their blood-feeding biology and interactions with hosts and pathogens could be exploited to develop new targets for controlling mosquito-borne diseases. Unfortunately, probing (i.
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- The study evaluated the effectiveness of three different isoxazoline-containing acaricides (sarolaner, afoxolaner, and lotilaner) in killing the tick Amblyomma americanum, with a focus on how quickly they work after being administered to beagle dogs.
- Lotilaner showed a significant speed of kill within 12 hours of infestation, outperforming both sarolaner and afoxolaner at various time points through the study.
- Over time, the efficacy of sarolaner and afoxolaner decreased, while lotilaner maintained higher effectiveness levels, suggesting it is the most reliable option among the three for reducing tick infestations.
Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate the prevalence of chronic Anaplasma marginale infection in beef bulls from eastern Kansas and compare breeding soundness parameters between A marginale-infected and uninfected bulls. We hypothesized that bulls with chronic anaplasmosis would have inferior breeding soundness exam (BSE) outcomes as a result of persistent A marginale infection or the consequence of initial clinical disease compared to uninfected bulls.
Animals: 535 client-owned beef bulls from eastern Kansas undergoing routine BSE.
Tick bites, associated with the secretion of tick saliva containing the xenoglycan galactose-alpha-1, 3-galactose (alpha-gal or aGal), are recognized as the causal factors of alpha-Gal syndrome (AGS; or red meat allergy) in humans. AGS occurs after the increased production of IgE antibodies against aGal, which is found in most mammalian cells, except for the Old World monkey and humans. The aGal sensitization event has been linked to an initial tick bite, followed by consumption of red meat containing the aGal glycan, which triggers the onset of the allergic response resulting in urticaria, anaphylaxis, or even death.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Compliant ectoparasiticide product use is a comprehensive way to control ticks and reduce the risk of tick-borne pathogen transmission to dogs. Because the systemically acting isoxazoline ectoparasiticides require tick attachment for drug delivery, fast speed of kill is essential to minimize tick-borne pathogen transmission risk.
Methods: Dogs of satisfactory tick-carrying capacity were randomly allocated to treatment groups and administered, per label instructions, Bravecto Chews (minimum 25 mg/kg fluralaner), Simparica TRIO (minimum 1.