Low Abundance of Three Tick Species in the Piedmont of North Carolina

Abstract Multiple species of ticks, including Ixodes scapularis (Say, Ixodida:Ixodidae), Amblyomma americanum (L., Ixodida:Ixodidae), and Dermacentor variabilis (Say, Ixodida:Ixodidae), occur in high and increasing abundance in both the northeast and southeast United States. North Carolina is at the nexus of spread of these species, with high occurrence and abundance of I. scapularis to the north and A. americanum to the south. Despite this, there are few records of these species in the Piedmont of North Carolina, including the greater Charlotte metropolitan area. Here, we update the known occurrence and abundance of these species in the North Carolina Piedmont. We surveyed for ticks using cloth drags, CO2 traps, and leaf litter samples at a total of 79 sites within five locations: Mecklenburg County, South Mountains State Park, Stone Mountain State Park, Duke Forest, and Morrow Mountain State Park, all in North Carolina, during the late spring, summer, and fall seasons of 2019. From these surveys, we had only 20 tick captures, illuminating the surprisingly low abundance of ticks in this region of North Carolina. Our results indicate the possibility of underlying habitat and host factors limiting tick distribution and abundance in the North Carolina Piedmont.

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A Survey of Tick-Borne Bacterial Pathogens in Florida

Insects ◽

10.3390/insects10090297 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (9) ◽

pp. 297 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Carrie E. De Jesus ◽

Claudia Ganser ◽

William H. Kessler ◽

Zoe S. White ◽

Chanakya R. Bhosale ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pathogenic Bacteria ◽

Ixodes Scapularis ◽

Bacterial Pathogens ◽

Bacterial Species ◽

Dermacentor Variabilis ◽

Amblyomma Americanum ◽

Rickettsia Parkeri ◽

Rickettsia Species ◽

Climatic Regions ◽

The North

Within the past three decades, new bacterial etiological agents of tick-borne disease have been discovered in the southeastern U.S., and the number of reported tick-borne pathogen infections has increased. In Florida, few systematic studies have been conducted to determine the presence of tick-borne bacterial pathogens. This investigation examined the distribution and presence of tick-borne bacterial pathogens in Florida. Ticks were collected by flagging at 41 field sites, spanning the climatic regions of mainland Florida. DNA was extracted individually from 1608 ticks and screened for Anaplasma, Borrelia, Ehrlichia and Rickettsia using conventional PCR and primers that amplified multiple species for each genus. PCR positive samples were Sanger sequenced. Four species of ticks were collected: Amblyomma americanum, Amblyomma maculatum, Dermacentor variabilis, and Ixodes scapularis. Within these ticks, six bacterial species were identified: Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia lonestari, Ehrlichia ewingii, Rickettsia amblyommatis, Rickettsia andeanae, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia endosymbionts. Pathogenic Borrelia, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia species were all detected in the North and North-Central Florida counties; however, we found only moderate concordance between the distribution of ticks infected with pathogenic bacteria and human cases of tick-borne diseases in Florida. Given the diversity and numerous bacterial species detected in ticks in Florida, further investigations should be conducted to identify regional hotspots of tick-borne pathogens.

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THE OCCURRENCE OF SPIROCHETES IN IXODID TICKS IN NORTH CAROLINA

Journal of Entomological Science ◽

10.18474/0749-8004-24.4.594 ◽

1989 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 594-602 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jay F. Levine ◽

Charles S. Apperson ◽

William L. Nicholson

Keyword(s):

North Carolina ◽

Lyme Disease ◽

Ixodes Scapularis ◽

Disease Patient ◽

Antibody Test ◽

Dermacentor Variabilis ◽

Amblyomma Americanum ◽

Ixodid Ticks ◽

Antibody Testing ◽

Fluorescence Antibody

Ticks were collected at 6 sites in North Carolina identified as the location of tick contact by Lyme disease patients, and at 6 sites located in counties where cases had been diagnosed. Specimens were screened for evidence of spirochete infection; fewer than 1% of the specimens collected harbored spirochetes. Indirect fluorescence antibody testing, with a species-specific monoclonal antibody, confirmed that one Ixodes scapularis Say collected at the residence of a Lyme disease patient was infected with Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Hyde, Schmid, and Brenner. Two specimens (Amblyomma americanum (L.) and I. scapularis) screened by a direct fluorescence antibody test with polyclonal antisera were infected with Borrelia. Spirochetes other than B. burgdorferi were found in A. americanum. No spirochetes were observed in Dermacentor variabilis (Say) or I. brunneus (Koch).

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