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Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012)
BACKGROUND: Since 1997, human-biting ticks submitted to the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program (HTTKP) of the US Army Public Health Command have been tested for pathogens by PCR. We noted differences in the phenology and infection prevalence among Ixodes scapularis ticks submitted fro...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2014
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265324/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25465046 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-014-0553-z |
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author | Stromdahl, Ellen Hamer, Sarah Jenkins, Sarah Sloan, Lynne Williamson, Phillip Foster, Erik Nadolny, Robyn Elkins, Chad Vince, Mary Pritt, Bobbi |
author_facet | Stromdahl, Ellen Hamer, Sarah Jenkins, Sarah Sloan, Lynne Williamson, Phillip Foster, Erik Nadolny, Robyn Elkins, Chad Vince, Mary Pritt, Bobbi |
author_sort | Stromdahl, Ellen |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Since 1997, human-biting ticks submitted to the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program (HTTKP) of the US Army Public Health Command have been tested for pathogens by PCR. We noted differences in the phenology and infection prevalence among Ixodes scapularis ticks submitted from military installations in different geographic regions. The aim of this study was to characterize these observed differences, comparing the phenology and pathogen infection rates of I. scapularis submitted from soldiers at two sites in the upper Midwest (Camp Ripley, MN, and Ft. McCoy, WI) and one site in the northeastern US (Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA). METHODS: From 1997 through 2012, the HTTKP received 1,981 I. scapularis from the three installations and tested them for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia burgdorferi and the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent using PCR; pathogen presence was confirmed via sequencing or amplification of a second gene target. Pathogen and co-infection prevalence, tick engorgement status, and phenology were compared among installations. RESULTS: Greater rates of A. phagocytophilum and Ba. microti infections were detected in ticks submitted from installations in Minnesota than in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, and the EML agent was only detected in ticks from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Midwestern ticks were also more likely to be co-infected than those from Pennsylvania. Both adult and nymphal ticks showed evidence of feeding on people, although nymphs were more often submitted engorged. Adult I. scapularis were received more frequently in June from Minnesota than from either of the other sites. Minnesota adult and nymphal peaks overlapped in June, and submissions of adults exceeded nymphs in that month. CONCLUSIONS: There were clear differences in I. scapularis phenology, pathogen prevalence and rates of co-infection among the three military installations. Seasonal and temperature differences between the three sites and length of time a population had been established in each region may contribute to the observed differences. The synchrony of adults and nymphs observed in the upper Midwest has implications for pathogen infection prevalence. The EML agent was only detected in Minnesota and Wisconsin, supporting the previous assertion that this pathogen is currently limited to the upper Midwest. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4265324 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2014 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-42653242014-12-14 Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) Stromdahl, Ellen Hamer, Sarah Jenkins, Sarah Sloan, Lynne Williamson, Phillip Foster, Erik Nadolny, Robyn Elkins, Chad Vince, Mary Pritt, Bobbi Parasit Vectors Research BACKGROUND: Since 1997, human-biting ticks submitted to the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program (HTTKP) of the US Army Public Health Command have been tested for pathogens by PCR. We noted differences in the phenology and infection prevalence among Ixodes scapularis ticks submitted from military installations in different geographic regions. The aim of this study was to characterize these observed differences, comparing the phenology and pathogen infection rates of I. scapularis submitted from soldiers at two sites in the upper Midwest (Camp Ripley, MN, and Ft. McCoy, WI) and one site in the northeastern US (Ft. Indiantown Gap, PA). METHODS: From 1997 through 2012, the HTTKP received 1,981 I. scapularis from the three installations and tested them for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia burgdorferi and the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent using PCR; pathogen presence was confirmed via sequencing or amplification of a second gene target. Pathogen and co-infection prevalence, tick engorgement status, and phenology were compared among installations. RESULTS: Greater rates of A. phagocytophilum and Ba. microti infections were detected in ticks submitted from installations in Minnesota than in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania, and the EML agent was only detected in ticks from Minnesota and Wisconsin. Midwestern ticks were also more likely to be co-infected than those from Pennsylvania. Both adult and nymphal ticks showed evidence of feeding on people, although nymphs were more often submitted engorged. Adult I. scapularis were received more frequently in June from Minnesota than from either of the other sites. Minnesota adult and nymphal peaks overlapped in June, and submissions of adults exceeded nymphs in that month. CONCLUSIONS: There were clear differences in I. scapularis phenology, pathogen prevalence and rates of co-infection among the three military installations. Seasonal and temperature differences between the three sites and length of time a population had been established in each region may contribute to the observed differences. The synchrony of adults and nymphs observed in the upper Midwest has implications for pathogen infection prevalence. The EML agent was only detected in Minnesota and Wisconsin, supporting the previous assertion that this pathogen is currently limited to the upper Midwest. BioMed Central 2014-12-04 /pmc/articles/PMC4265324/ /pubmed/25465046 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-014-0553-z Text en © Stromdahl et al.; licensee BioMed Central. 2014 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
spellingShingle | Research Stromdahl, Ellen Hamer, Sarah Jenkins, Sarah Sloan, Lynne Williamson, Phillip Foster, Erik Nadolny, Robyn Elkins, Chad Vince, Mary Pritt, Bobbi Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
title | Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
title_full | Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
title_fullStr | Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
title_full_unstemmed | Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
title_short | Comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the Ehrlichiamuris-like (EML) agent, of Ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern United States over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
title_sort | comparison of phenology and pathogen prevalence, including infection with the ehrlichiamuris-like (eml) agent, of ixodes scapularis removed from soldiers in the midwestern and the northeastern united states over a 15 year period (1997-2012) |
topic | Research |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4265324/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25465046 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13071-014-0553-z |
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