Among these biological candidates, entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae Metschnikoff was highly pathogenic to engorged larvae and engorged adult female
Ixodes scapularis (Zhioua et al., 1997; Benjamin et al., 2002).
Geographic variation in the relationship between human Lyme disease incidence and density of infected host-seeking
Ixodes scapularis nymphs in the Eastern United States.
Harvested white-tailed deer as sentinel hosts for early establishing
Ixodes scapularis populations and risk from vector-borne zoonoses in southeastern Canada.
Climate change and the potential for range expansion of the Lyme disease vector
Ixodes scapularis in Canada.
Abundance and infection rates of
Ixodes scapularis nymphs collected from residential properties in Lyme disease-endemic areas of Connecticut, Maryland, and New York.
Beauchamp et al., "Investigation of relationships between temperature and developmental rates of tick
Ixodes scapularis (Acari: ixodidae) in the laboratory and field," Journal of Medical Entomology, vol.
One arm of their research has taken them to the lab, where they have modeled coinfection and transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti from their reservoir host, the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), to the vector, the deer tick (
Ixodes scapularis), which can transmit both diseases to humans.
Phagocytosis of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, by cells from the ticks,
Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor andersoni, infected with an endosymbiont, Rickettsia peacockii.
The researchers performed DNA sequencing, microscopy, or culturing of the diagnostic specimens (five blood and one synovial), as well as oppAl PCR testing of
Ixodes scapularis ticks (black-legged or "deer" ticks) from regions of suspected patient tick exposure.
In the Lyme disease-endemic regions of the Northeast, specifically New York, New Jersey Connecticut, and Massachusetts, approximately 28% of
Ixodes scapularis ticks had dual infections with B.
The blacklegged tick (
Ixodes scapularis) spreads the disease in the Northeastern, Mid-Atlantic and NorthCentral United States, and the Western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) spreads the disease on the Pacific Coast.
Eastern North Dakota is traditionally viewed as a non-endemic area for Lyme disease, though the emergence of confirmed Lyme disease cases among residents suggests eastern North Dakota is minimally a transition zone for Borrelia burgdorferi and
Ixodes scapularis. Indeed, based upon the isolation of infected nymphal
Ixodes scapularis ticks, Diuk-Wasser et al.