Competence of Peromyscus maniculatus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) as a reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetares: Spirochaetaceae) in the wild
Rand PW, Lacombe EH, Smith RP, Rich SM, Kilpatrick CW, Dragoni CA, Caporale D. 1993. Competence of Peromyscus maniculatus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) as a reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetares: Spirochaetaceae) in the wild. Journal of Medical Entomology. 30(3):614-618
Small mammal trapping and flannel flagging of vegetation was conducted on Isle au Haut to recover ticks. 'Although capable of maintaining and transmitting Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmidt, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, the causative spirochete of Lyme disease, in the laboratory, the specific ability of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus Le Conte, to support this zoonosis has not been established. Demonstration that P. maniculatus is a competent reservoir host in the wild would indicate that the spread of Lyme disease is not limited to the range of the primary reservoir host, P. leucopus Rafinesque. Isle au Haut, an offshore Maine island upon which the vector tick Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin has become established, supports an isolated population of mice that are exclusively P. maniculatus. We examined the reservoir competence of this species by comparing infection rates of B. burgdorferi among juvenile ticks removed from live-trapped mice on this island with those removed from P. leucopus obtained at a mainland site endemic for Lyme disease. Equivalent rates of infection among engorged larval ticks, survival of infection through the larval-nymphal molt, and the isolation of B. burgdorferi from mice at both sites attest to the reservoir competence of P. maniculatus.' /STUDY LOCATIONS:/ /ISLE AU HAUT/
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Rand, Peter; Lacombe, Eleanor; Smith, Robert; Rich, Stephen; Kilpatrick, C.; Dragoni, Catherine; Caporale, Diane
- Units
- ACAD
- Keywords
- Isle Au Haut, Lyme Disease