Detection of DNA in Deer Keds: Massachusetts, USA.

Deer keds ( spp. and ) are hematophagous ectoparasites that primarily infest white-tailed deer () and other cervids in the United States. The distribution of deer keds in the northeastern United States and the pathogens they harbor remains relatively unexplored.

White-Tailed Deer Serum Kills the Lyme Disease Spirochete, .

is a human pathogen vectored by ticks and maintained in nature by a suite of competent vertebrate reservoirs. White-tailed deer (WTD) are considered to be noncompetent reservoirs for . Sera from other deer species have been found to be borreliacidal, and similar mechanisms could explain the lack of reservoir competence of WTD.