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Immunology and Infectious Disease Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Immunology and Infectious Disease

Range Expansion Of Tick Disease Vectors In North America: Implications For Spread Of Tick-Borne Disease, Daniel E. Sonenshine Jan 2018

Range Expansion Of Tick Disease Vectors In North America: Implications For Spread Of Tick-Borne Disease, Daniel E. Sonenshine

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ticks are the major vectors of most disease-causing agents to humans, companion animals and wildlife. Moreover, ticks transmit a greater variety of pathogenic agents than any other blood-feeding arthropod. Ticks have been expanding their geographic ranges in recent decades largely due to climate change. Furthermore, tick populations in many areas of their past and even newly established localities have increased in abundance. These dynamic changes present new and increasing severe public health threats to humans, livestock and companion animals in areas where they were previously unknown or were considered to be of minor importance. Here in this review, the geographic …


Abiotic Factors Contributing To The Survival Of Three Tick Species In Southeastern Virginia, Amblyomma Americanum (Lone Star Tick), Dermacentor Variabilis (American Dog Tick), And Amblyomma Maculatum (Gulf Coast Tick), Lindsey A. Bidder Oct 2016

Abiotic Factors Contributing To The Survival Of Three Tick Species In Southeastern Virginia, Amblyomma Americanum (Lone Star Tick), Dermacentor Variabilis (American Dog Tick), And Amblyomma Maculatum (Gulf Coast Tick), Lindsey A. Bidder

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Amblyomma americanum, Amblyomma maculatum, and Dermacentor variabilis are hard-bodied ticks in the Hampton Roads area of southeastern Virginia. This study consisted of two field projects focused on these tick species. To estimate the off-host survival of local tick species, a capture-mark-recapture (CMR) study was performed. An environmental survival study was performed to quantify the ability of these three tick species to survive in situ. Four field sites were used in the Hampton Roads region covering a variety of habitat types and vegetation; specifically two drier, upland field sites and two flood-prone sites. CMR was conducted from May through …


Comparative Population Genetics Of Two Invading Ticks: Evidence Of The Ecological Mechanisms Underlying Tick Range Expansions, Robyn Nadolny, Holly Gaff, Jens Carlsson, David Gauthier Jan 2015

Comparative Population Genetics Of Two Invading Ticks: Evidence Of The Ecological Mechanisms Underlying Tick Range Expansions, Robyn Nadolny, Holly Gaff, Jens Carlsson, David Gauthier

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

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. We found that despite overlapping host preferences throughout ontogeny, each species exhibited very different genetic and geographic …


Ticks And Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae Of Southeastern Virginia, Robyn M. Nadolny, Chelsea L. Wright, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Wayne L. Hynes, Holly D. Gaff Jan 2014

Ticks And Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae Of Southeastern Virginia, Robyn M. Nadolny, Chelsea L. Wright, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Wayne L. Hynes, Holly D. Gaff

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

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. Other species represented included Ixodes scapularis, Dermacentor variabilis …


Rickettsia Parkeri In Gulf Coast Ticks, Southeastern Virginia, Usa, Chelsea L. Wright, Robyn M. Nadolny, Ju Jiang, Allen L. Richards, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Holly D. Gaff, Wayne L. Hynes May 2011

Rickettsia Parkeri In Gulf Coast Ticks, Southeastern Virginia, Usa, Chelsea L. Wright, Robyn M. Nadolny, Ju Jiang, Allen L. Richards, Daniel E. Sonenshine, Holly D. Gaff, Wayne L. Hynes

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

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.