Publications by authors named "Megan E M Saunders"
Pacific Coast tick fever is a recently described zoonotic disease in California caused by a spotted fever group rickettsia, Rickettsia rickettsii subsp. californica (formerly Rickettsia 364D) and transmitted by the Pacific Coast tick, Dermacentor occidentalis. Like many emerging vector-borne diseases, knowledge regarding the transmission cycle, contribution from potential amplifying hosts, and geographic distribution of R.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn response to notable increases in tick-associated illnesses in the United States, recent public health policies encouraged multi-sector collaborative approaches to preventing vector-borne diseases. Primary prevention strategies focus on educating the public about risks for tick-borne diseases and encouraging adoption of personal protection strategies. Accurate descriptions of when and where people are at risk for tick-borne diseases aid in the optimization of prevention messaging.
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- * A new rickettsial pathogen, Rickettsia sp. CA6269, was identified in two patients in northern California, causing severe illness similar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
- * The study highlights potential misidentification of Rickettsia sp. CA6269 as R. rickettsii due to cross-reactivity in diagnostic tests and introduces a specific real-time PCR for accurate detection and understanding of this emerging pathogen.
Article Synopsis
- Ixodes pacificus, or the western blacklegged tick, is found primarily in the far western U.S. and is a known vector for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and hard tick relapsing fever.
- The geographical range of I. pacificus has remained stable over the last fifty years, with no significant expansion detected aside from possible new surveillance efforts in Utah and Arizona.
- Historical records show that the tick’s distribution patterns from the 1930s closely match modern data, highlighting a lack of increase in tick density and a consistent incidence of Lyme disease in Pacific Coast states since the early 1990s.
Article Synopsis
- Borrelia miyamotoi infections have been indicated in California through blood tests.
- A case was identified in an immunocompromised man, where diagnosis was supported by analyzing DNA from his blood.
- The findings suggest that the infection was contracted within California.
Article Synopsis
- * A study tested 348 nymphs and 916 adult ticks from various locations in California for the presence of R. tillamookensis DNA, finding it in 2.9% of nymphs and 1.9% of adults, indicating low infection rates overall.
- * Four new isolates of R. tillamookensis were successfully cultivated from adult ticks, alongside reviving four historical isolates, suggesting the need for more research on the health risks posed by this pathogen
Condition-specific competition, when environmental conditions alter the outcome of competition, can foster the persistence of resident species after the invasion of a competitively superior invader. We test whether condition-specific competition can facilitate the areawide persistence of the resident and principal West Nile virus vector mosquito with the competitively superior invasive in water from different urban container habitats. (2) Methods: We tested the effects of manipulated numbers of on survival and development in water collected from common functional and discarded containers in Baltimore, MD, USA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe first confirmed collection of Aedes japonicus in Maine was in Cumberland County in 2001. Since that initial collection, it has been found in 7 of Maine's 16 counties between 2001 and 2015. These collections include the northernmost collection of Ae.
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