Movement of and (Acari: Ixodidae) adult ticks in chaparral under natural conditions in Northern California, U.S.A.

The movement of and adult ticks down a hill slope under natural conditions was investigated using the mark-release-recapture (MRR) method. We evaluated the movement of host-seeking adult ticks down a hill slope to determine if ticks travel downhill from an uphill area to trail margins below. During the tick seasons in 2016-2018, the ticks were collected by flagging, marked with paint, released at a predetermined location, and recaptured by weekly flagging.

sp. nov., a novel species of the complex, occupying a basal position to North American species.

species are vector-borne parasitic bacteria with unusual, highly fragmented genomes that include a linear chromosome and linear as well as circular plasmids that differ numerically between and within various species. Strain CA690, which was cultivated from a questing nymph in the San Francisco Bay area, CA, was determined to be genetically distinct from all other described species belonging to the complex. The genome, including plasmids, was assembled using a hybrid assembly of short Illumina reads and long reads obtained via Oxford Nanopore Technology.

Large scale spatial risk and comparative prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes pacificus.

Borrelia miyamotoi is a newly described emerging pathogen transmitted to people by Ixodes species ticks and found in temperate regions of North America, Europe, and Asia. There is limited understanding of large scale entomological risk patterns of B. miyamotoi and of Borreila burgdorferi sensu stricto (ss), the agent of Lyme disease, in western North America.

Remarkable diversity of tick or mammalian-associated Borreliae in the metropolitan San Francisco Bay Area, California.

The diversity of Lyme disease (LD) and relapsing fever (RF)-group spirochetes in the metropolitan San Francisco Bay area in northern California is poorly understood. We tested Ixodes pacificus, I. spinipalpis, and small mammals for presence of borreliae in Alameda County in the eastern portion of San Francisco Bay between 2009 and 2012.

Cercarial dermatitis transmitted by exotic marine snail.

Cercarial dermatitis (swimmer's itch) is caused by the penetration of human skin by cercariae of schistosome parasites that develop in and are released from snail hosts. Cercarial dermatitis is frequently acquired in freshwater habitats, and less commonly in marine or estuarine waters. To investigate reports of a dermatitis outbreak in San Francisco Bay, California, we surveyed local snails for schistosome infections during 2005-2008.