Reduced abundance of immature Ixodes dammini (Acari: Ixodidae) following incremental removal of deer.

The abundance of immature Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin was monitored for 9 yr (1983-1991) before and during the controlled, limited hunting of white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmerman), at a coastal Massachusetts site. Deer abundance was reduced from an estimated 350 during 1985 to approximately 60 during 1991. Although annual fluctuations were large, mean larval I.

Efficacy of a permethrin-based acaricide to reduce the abundance of Ixodes dammini (Acari: Ixodidae).

Permethrin-impregnated cotton was distributed to reduce abundance of immature Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin feeding upon white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) and questing on vegetation at a private resort site (The Crane Reservation of The Trustees of Reservations in Ipswich, Mass.) located in coastal New England. This test constituted the first independent evaluation of the efficacy of this commercial product (Damminix).

Rapid emergence of a focal epidemic of Lyme disease in coastal Massachusetts.

We describe a focal epidemic of Lyme disease, which spread from a nature preserve and affected an adjacent community of permanent residents in coastal Massachusetts. The attack rate from 1980 through 1987 was 35 percent among 190 residents living within 5 km of the nature preserve and was greatest (66 percent) among those living closest to the preserve. The risk of infection bore little relation to sex or age.