PREVALENCE AND RISK FACTORS OF ANAPLASMA INFECTIONS IN EASTERN MOOSE (ALCES ALCES AMERICANA) AND WINTER TICKS (DERMACENTOR ALBIPICTUS) IN MAINE, USA.

Eastern moose (Alces alces americana) are heavily parasitized by winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus), the dominant cause of increased calf mortality in the northeastern US. Although much work has focused on the direct negative effects of winter tick on moose, it remains unknown whether diseases transmitted by ticks may also affect moose health or pose a risk to other species. We explored the role that moose and winter ticks play in transmission of the tick-borne bacterial pathogens, Anaplasma spp.

Vertical transmission of the entomopathogenic soil fungus as a contaminant of eggs in the winter tick, , collected from calf moose (New Hampshire, USA).

Moose naturally acquire soil fungi on their fur that are entomopathogenic to the winter tick, . Presumed to provide a measure of on-host tick control, it is unknown whether these soil fungi impact subsequent off-host stages of the tick. Eggs and resultant larvae originating from engorged, adult female winter ticks collected from dead calf moose () were used to investigate the presence and extent of fungal infection.

Tick development on sexually-active bull moose is more advanced compared to that of cow moose in the winter tick, .

We performed a complete survey of ticks on 100 cm skin samples collected from 30 moose () harvested in 2017 in central and northern Maine, U.S.A.

Low and high thermal tolerance characteristics for unfed larvae of the winter tick Dermacentor albipictus (Acari: Ixodidae) with special reference to moose.

We report that larvae of the winter tick Dermacentor albipictus, the only stage that will quest for a host, can tolerate short-term cold shock down to -25°C and short-term heat shock as high as 46°C. Unlike a three host-tick, larvae of D. albipictus have no preconditioning response to low or high temperature exposure by rapid cold hardening (RCH) or heat hardening, and poor ability to acclimate to low and high temperature extremes.