Effects of permethrin-treated uniforms on tick submissions to a military passive tick surveillance program.

Permethrin-treated clothing is often recommended as a first line of defense against tick-borne diseases. In 2012, the permethrin factory-treated Army Combat Uniform was first made available to active duty Soldiers, Army National Guard, Army Reserve Enlisted Soldiers, and the Senior/Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps. Subsequently, Air Force and Marine Corps personnel were also offered permethrin factory-treated uniforms.

Earliest records of the Asian longhorned tick (Acari: Ixodidae) in Staten Island, New York, and subsequent population establishment, with a review of its potential medical and veterinary importance in the United States.

Three Asian longhorned ticks (Haemaphysalis longicornis) were collected on Staten Island, Richmond County, New York, in 2014-2015 as part of a tick-borne disease surveillance program conducted by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Defense Centers of Public Health - Aberdeen Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory. These records mark the earliest known occurrence of H. longicornis in New York State outside of quarantine areas, predating previously reported detections by several years.

Newer Surveillance Data Extends our Understanding of the Niche of (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) Infection of the American Dog Tick (Acari: Ixodidae) in the United States.

Understanding the geographic distribution of infections in is important for tick-borne disease management in the United States, as both a tick-borne agent of interest and a potential confounder in surveillance of other rickettsial diseases. Two previous studies modeled niche suitability for with and without , from 2002 to 2012, indicating that the niche overestimates the infected niche. This study updates these, adding data since 2012.

Newer Surveillance Data Extends our Understanding of the Niche of (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) Infection of the American Dog Tick (Acari: Ixodidae) in the United States.

Background: Understanding the geographic distribution of infections in is important for tick-borne disease management in the United States, as both a tick-borne agent of interest and a potential confounder in surveillance of other rickettsial diseases. Two previous studies modeled niche suitability for with and without , from 2002-2012, indicating that the niche overestimates the infected niche. This study updates these, adding data since 2012.

Spatial Heterogeneity of Sympatric Tick Species and Tick-Borne Pathogens Emphasizes the Need for Surveillance for Effective Tick Control.

Three tick species that can transmit pathogen causing disease are commonly found parasitizing people and animals in the mid-Atlantic United States: the blacklegged tick ( Say), the American dog tick ( [Say]), and the lone star tick ( [L.]) (Acari: Ixodidae). The potential risk of pathogen transmission from tick bites acquired at schools in tick-endemic areas is a concern, as school-aged children are a high-risk group for tick-borne disease.

Carios kelleyi (Acari: Ixodida: Argasidae) Infected With Rickettsial Agents Documented Infesting Housing in Kansas, United States.

During September-December 2018, 25 live ticks were collected on-post at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in a home with a history of bat occupancy. Nine ticks were sent to the Army Public Health Center Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory and were identified as Carios kelleyi (Cooley and Kohls, 1941), a species that seldom bites humans but that may search for other sources of blood meals, including humans, when bats are removed from human dwellings. The ticks were tested for numerous agents of human disease.

Focus Stacking Images of Morphological Character States for Differentiating the Adults of Ixodes affinis and Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) in Areas of Sympatry.

Adult females and males of Ixodes affinis and Ixodes scapularis are illustrated by focus stacking image photography, and morphological character states are described that reliably differentiate the two species. In conjunction with other environmental cues, such as the questing phenology of adults, these characteristics will enable the rapid identification of adults of either sex along the southern Coastal Plain of the United States, where these species are sympatric.

Implementing Pool-Based Surveillance Testing for SARS-CoV-2 at the Army Public Health Center Laboratory and across the Army Public Health Laboratory Enterprise.

With limited clinical resources, burgeoning testing requests from Army and other Service units to clinical laboratories, and the continued spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) throughout the military population, the Army Public Health Laboratory (APHL) Enterprise was tasked to establish surveillance testing capabilities for active duty military populations in an expedient manner. Following a proof-of-concept study conducted by Public Health Command-Pacific, Public Health Command-Europe was the first public health laboratory to offer the capability to assess for SARS-CoV-2 in pooled samples, followed closely by the Army Public Health Center (APHC) at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, paralleling the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from China to Europe to the continental US. The APHLs have selected pool sizes of up to 10 samples per pool based on the best evidence available at the time of method development and validation.

Surveillance of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens in Suburban Natural Habitats of Central Maryland.

Lyme and other tick-borne diseases are increasing in the eastern United States and there is a lack of research on integrated strategies to control tick vectors. Here we present results of a study on tick-borne pathogens detected from tick vectors and rodent reservoirs from an ongoing 5-yr tick suppression study in the Lyme disease-endemic state of Maryland, where human-biting tick species, including Ixodes scapularis Say (Acari: Ixodidae) (the primary vector of Lyme disease spirochetes), are abundant. During the 2017 tick season, we collected 207 questing ticks and 602 ticks recovered from 327 mice (Peromyscus spp.

Survey of Rickettsia parkeri and Amblyomma maculatum associated with small mammals in southeastern Virginia.

Small mammals are often parasitized by the immature stages of hard-bodied ticks (family Ixodidae) and may serve as reservoir hosts of tick-borne pathogens. Amblyomma maculatum, the Gulf Coast tick, is the primary vector of Rickettsia parkeri, the causative agent of R. parkeri rickettsiosis.

LYMESIM 2.0: An Updated Simulation of Blacklegged Tick (Acari: Ixodidae) Population Dynamics and Enzootic Transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae).

Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States, and the number of cases reported each year continues to rise. The complex nature of the relationships between the pathogen (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto), the tick vector (Ixodes scapularis Say), multiple vertebrate hosts, and numerous environmental factors creates challenges for understanding and predicting tick population and pathogen transmission dynamics. LYMESIM is a mechanistic model developed in the late 1990s to simulate the life-history of I.

Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) Ticks Are Not Vectors of the Lyme Disease Agent, Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirocheatales: Spirochaetaceae): A Review of the Evidence.

In the early 1980s, Ixodes spp. ticks were implicated as the key North American vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi (Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt and Brenner) (Spirocheatales: Spirochaetaceae), the etiological agent of Lyme disease. Concurrently, other human-biting tick species were investigated as potential B.

Natural history of Ixodes affinis in Virginia.

The ixodid tick species Ixodes affinis is expanding its range northward, changing the tick community population dynamics in the Mid-Atlantic United States. We present five years of surveillance on newly established populations of I. affinis throughout southeastern Virginia and discuss the habitat and host associations of I.

Natural history of Amblyomma maculatum in Virginia.

The Gulf Coast tick Amblyomma maculatum Koch is increasingly relevant to medical and veterinary communities as human infection rates of Rickettsia parkeri rise, the risk of introduction of Ehrlichia ruminantium increases, and the range of this tick expands into the densely populated Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. We report on the results of five years of field surveillance to better describe the ecology of A. maculatum in newly established populations in southeastern Virginia.

New Records of Ixodes affinis (Acari: Ixodidae) Parasitizing Avian Hosts in Southeastern Virginia.

Ixodes affinis Neumann (Acari: Ixodidae) is a hard-bodied tick species distributed throughout much of the southeastern United States. Although I. affinis does not parasitize humans, it is a competent vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, the causative-agent of Lyme disease, and thus contributes to the enzootic maintenance of this pathogen.

Comparative population genetics of two invading ticks: Evidence of the ecological mechanisms underlying tick range expansions.

Two species of ixodid tick, Ixodes affinis Neumann and Amblyomma maculatum Koch, are simultaneously expanding their ranges throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the US. Although we have some understanding of the ecology and life history of these species, the ecological mechanisms governing where and how new populations establish and persist are unclear. To assess population connectivity and ancestry, we sequenced a fragment of the 16S mitochondrial rRNA gene from a representative sample of individuals of both species from populations throughout the eastern US.

Review of the Mid-Atlantic Tick Summit III: A model for regional information sharing.

Ticks are the most significant vectors of infectious diseases in the United States, inspiring many researchers to study aspects of their biology, ecology, and their effects on public health. However, regional differences in tick abundance and pathogen infection prevalence result in the inability to assume results from one area are relevant in another. Current local information on tick ranges, infection rates, and human cases is needed to assess tick-borne disease risk in any given region.

Borrelia burgdorferi not confirmed in human-biting Amblyomma americanum ticks from the southeastern United States.

The predominant human-biting tick throughout the southeastern United States is Amblyomma americanum. Its ability to transmit pathogens causing Lyme disease-like illnesses is a subject of ongoing controversy. Results of previous testing by the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program and other laboratories indicated that it is highly unlikely that A.

Ticks and spotted fever group rickettsiae of southeastern Virginia.

The incidence of tick-borne rickettsial disease in the southeastern United States has been rising steadily through the past decade, and the range expansions of tick species and tick-borne infectious agents, new and old, has resulted in an unprecedented mix of vectors and pathogens. The results of an ongoing 4-year surveillance project describe the relative abundance of questing tick populations in southeastern Virginia. Since 2009, more than 66,000 questing ticks of 7 species have been collected from vegetation in a variety of habitats, with Amblyomma americanum constituting over 95% of ticks collected.

Identifying requirements for the invasion of a tick species and tick-borne pathogen through TICKSIM.

Ticks and tick-borne diseases have been on the move throughout the United State over the past twenty years. We use an agent-based model, TICKSIM, to identify the key parameters that determine the success of invasion of the tick and if that is successful, the succees of the tick-borne pathogen. We find that if an area has competent hosts, an initial population of ten ticks is predicted to always establish a new population.

Rickettsia parkeri in gulf coast ticks, southeastern Virginia, USA.

We report evidence that Amblyomma maculatum tick populations are well established in southeastern Virginia. We found that 43.1% of the adult Gulf Coast ticks collected in the summer of 2010 carried Rickettsia parkeri, suggesting that persons living in or visiting southeastern Virginia are at risk for infection with this pathogen.