scholarly journals Prevalence of Winter Ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk (Cervus canadensis) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018)

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Calvente ◽  
Samantha Pelletier ◽  
Jeremiah Banfield ◽  
Justin Brown ◽  
Nicole Chinnici

Winter ticks (Dermacentor albipictus) are an aggressive one-host tick that infest a wide-diversity of ungulates. Infestations can result in anemia, alopecia, emaciation, and death. Most notably, the winter tick has caused negative impacts to moose (Alces alces) populations in the northeast United States and Canada. Winter ticks have been identified on other cervid species, including deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and elk (Cervus canadensis), which generally results in low tick burdens and mild or no disease. Recently, however, a wild yearling bull elk in Pennsylvania was found dead as a result of severe winter tick infestation. To obtain baseline data on winter ticks in wild elk in Pennsylvania, we collected 1453 ticks from 190 hunter-harvested wild elk between 2017–2018. Of the 204 harvested elk, 94.3% (190/204) had ticks collected for this study and none of the sampled elk had evidence of winter-tick associated disease. The average tick burden was 7.7 ticks/elk and average winter tick load on all elk was 0.5. Results of this study indicate that winter ticks do infest wild elk in Pennsylvania. However, during the fall months, the tick burden is low and rarely associated with lesions. These data herein serve as a baseline to monitor winter tick populations over time.

Author(s):  
Erika T Machtinger ◽  
Hayley R Springer ◽  
Jessica E Brown ◽  
Pia U Olafson

Abstract In October 2020, three captive male white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus [Zimmermann] (artiodactyla: Cervidae), were found dead in central Pennsylvania and a fourth was euthanized due to extreme lethargy. The deer presented with high burdens of Dermacentor albipictus (Packard) (Ixoda: Ixodidae) (winter tick). There were no other clinical symptoms and deer were in otherwise good physical condition with no observed alopecia. Winter tick epizootics have been associated with mortalities of moose, Alces alces [Linnaeus] (artiodactyla: cervidae), and more recently elk, Cervus canadensis [Erxleben] (artiodactyla: cervidae), in Pennsylvania, but have not been reported in white-tailed deer. Mild winters are favorable to winter ticks and deer producers and managers should be aware of possible infestations as a result.


2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 247
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Calvente ◽  
Nicole Chinnici ◽  
Justin Brown ◽  
Jeremiah E. Banfield ◽  
Jason W. Brooks ◽  
...  

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (11) ◽  
pp. 2583-2588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark L. Drew ◽  
W. M. Samuel

Reproductive performance and development of the winter tick, Dermacentor albipictus, were studied under controlled conditions using multiple replicates along a time series. Engorged female ticks cold stressed at various temperatures before incubation at 25 °C laid more eggs, and the number of eggs laid per gram of engorged female was higher, than female ticks held at constant 25 °C. No females survived a pretreatment of −22 °C. Females maintained under fluctuating temperature and relative humidity had a higher mortality rate and lower reproductive performance than those in either constant or cold-stress conditions. The preoviposition period decreased over time in most treatment groups.


2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A. Fitzner ◽  
Charlie Bennett ◽  
June McKoy ◽  
Cara Tigue

Author(s):  
William W. Franko ◽  
Christopher Witko

The authors conclude the book by recapping their arguments and empirical results, and discussing the possibilities for the “new economic populism” to promote egalitarian economic outcomes in the face of continuing gridlock and the dominance of Washington, DC’s policymaking institutions by business and the wealthy, and a conservative Republican Party. Many states are actually addressing inequality now, and these policies are working. Admittedly, many states also continue to embrace the policies that have contributed to growing inequality, such as tax cuts for the wealthy or attempting to weaken labor unions. But as the public grows more concerned about inequality, the authors argue, policies that help to address these income disparities will become more popular, and policies that exacerbate inequality will become less so. Over time, if history is a guide, more egalitarian policies will spread across the states, and ultimately to the federal government.


2014 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 423-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin C. Pereira ◽  
Kristin M. Shaw ◽  
Paula M. Snippes Vagnone ◽  
Jane E. Harper ◽  
Alexander J. Kallen ◽  
...  

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) are a growing problem in the United States. We explored the feasibility of active laboratory-based surveillance of CRE in a metropolitan area not previously considered to be an area of CRE endemicity. We provide a framework to address CRE surveillance and to monitor changes in the incidence of CRE infection over time.


2020 ◽  
pp. 002087282097061
Author(s):  
Qin Gao ◽  
Xiaofang Liu

Racial discrimination against people of Chinese and other Asian ethnicities has risen sharply in number and severity globally amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This rise has been especially rapid and severe in the United States, fueled by xenophobic political rhetoric and racist language on social media. It has endangered the lives of many Asian Americans and is likely to have long-term negative impacts on the economic, social, physical, and psychological well-being of Asian Americans. This essay reviews the prevalence and consequences of anti-Asian racial discrimination during COVID-19 and calls for actions in practice, policy, and research to stand against it.


Author(s):  
Stephen Vesper ◽  
Larry Wymer ◽  
David Cox ◽  
Gary Dewalt ◽  
Eugene Pinzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Author(s):  
Kathryn T Duncan ◽  
Meriam N Saleh ◽  
Kellee D Sundstrom ◽  
Susan E Little

Abstract Throughout North America, Dermacentor spp. ticks are often found feeding on animals and humans, and are known to transmit pathogens, including the Rocky Mountain spotted fever agent. To better define the identity and distribution of Dermacentor spp. removed from dogs and cats in the United States, ticks submitted from 1,457 dogs (n = 2,924 ticks) and 137 cats (n = 209 ticks) from veterinary practices in 44/50 states from February 2018-January 2020 were identified morphologically (n = 3,133); the identity of ticks from regions where Dermacentor andersoni (Stiles) have been reported, and a subset of ticks from other regions, were confirmed molecularly through amplification and sequencing of the ITS2 region and a 16S rRNA gene fragment. Of the ticks submitted, 99.3% (3,112/3,133) were Dermacentor variabilis (Say), 0.4% (12/3,133) were D. andersoni, and 0.3% (9/3,133) were Dermacentor albipictus (Packard). While translocation of pets prior to tick removal cannot be discounted, the majority (106/122; 87%) of Dermacentor spp. ticks removed from dogs and cats in six Rocky Mountain states (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado) were D. variabilis, suggesting this species may be more widespread in the western United States than is currently recognized, or that D. andersoni, if still common in the region, preferentially feeds on hosts other than dogs and cats. Together, these data support the interpretation that D. variabilis is the predominant Dermacentor species found on pets throughout the United States, a finding that may reflect recent shifts in tick distribution.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Di Zhu ◽  
Xinyue Ye ◽  
Steven Manson

AbstractWe describe the use of network modeling to capture the shifting spatiotemporal nature of the COVID-19 pandemic. The most common approach to tracking COVID-19 cases over time and space is to examine a series of maps that provide snapshots of the pandemic. A series of snapshots can convey the spatial nature of cases but often rely on subjective interpretation to assess how the pandemic is shifting in severity through time and space. We present a novel application of network optimization to a standard series of snapshots to better reveal how the spatial centres of the pandemic shifted spatially over time in the mainland United States under a mix of interventions. We find a global spatial shifting pattern with stable pandemic centres and both local and long-range interactions. Metrics derived from the daily nature of spatial shifts are introduced to help evaluate the pandemic situation at regional scales. We also highlight the value of reviewing pandemics through local spatial shifts to uncover dynamic relationships among and within regions, such as spillover and concentration among states. This new way of examining the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of network-based spatial shifts offers new story lines in understanding how the pandemic spread in geography.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document