Seasonal Activity, Density, and Collection Efficiency of the Blacklegged Tick (<i>Ixodes scapularis</i>) (Acari: Ixodidae) in Mid-Western Pennsylvania

Simmons, Thomas W.; Shea, Jennifer; Myers-Claypole, Michelle; Kruise, R.; Hutchinson, Michael L.

doi:10.1093/jme/tjv132

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Seasonal distribution of tick bite-related ED encounters peaked earlier than reported LD cases with a second peak in the fall. This observation is consistent with other studies showing emergence of overwintering adult ticks and nymphs in the spring and presence of adult ticks in the fall (Falco et al, 1999;Schulze & Jordan, 1996;Simmons, Shea, Myers-Claypole, Kruise, & Hutchinson, 2015;Xu et al, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…Seasonal distribution of tick bite‐related ED encounters peaked earlier than reported LD cases with a second peak in the fall. This observation is consistent with other studies showing emergence of overwintering adult ticks and nymphs in the spring and presence of adult ticks in the fall (Falco et al., ; Schulze & Jordan, ; Simmons, Shea, Myers‐Claypole, Kruise, & Hutchinson, ; Xu et al., ). In contrast, both reported LD cases and LD‐related ED encounters showed a single peak in the summer thought to result from increased exposure to the nymphal stage of the tick, which emerges in the spring (Falco et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

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Tick bite and Lyme disease‐related emergency department encounters in New Hampshire, 2010–2014

Fredette¹,

Mathewson²,

Dufault³

et al. 2017

Zoonoses and Public Health

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Lyme disease (LD) is a common tick-borne disease in New Hampshire (NH). While LD is a reportable condition and cases are counted for public health surveillance, many more people receive care for tick bites or diagnoses of LD than are reflected in surveillance data. NH's emergency department (ED) data system was queried for tick bite and LD-related encounters. Chief complaint text was queried for words related to LD or tick bites. International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision (ICD-9) codes were queried for the LD diagnosis code (088.81). Emergency department patient data were matched to reportable disease data to determine the proportion of ED patients reported to the health department as a suspected LD case. Data were analysed to calculate frequencies for key demographic and reporting characteristics. From 2010 to 2014, 13,615 tick bite or LD-related ED encounters were identified in NH, with most due to tick bites (76%). Of 3,256 patients with a LD-related ED encounter, 738 (23%) were reported to the health department as a suspected LD case. The geographic distribution of ED patients was similar to reported LD cases; however, the regions of the state that experienced higher rates of ED encounters were different than the regions that observed higher rates of reported LD cases. Seasonal distribution of ED encounters peaked earlier than reported LD cases with a second peak in the fall. While age and sex distribution was similar among ED patients and reported LD cases, the rates for children 5 years and younger and adults 65 years and older were greater for ED encounters. Patients frequently visit the ED to seek care for tick bites and suspected LD. Results of ED data analyses can be used to target education, in particular for ED providers and the public through timely distribution of evidence-based educational materials and training programmes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Tick bite and Lyme disease‐related emergency department encounters in New Hampshire, 2010–2014

Fredette¹,

Mathewson²,

Dufault³

et al. 2017

Zoonoses and Public Health

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“…The seasonality data for the five most abundant tick species inferred by our passive surveillance data is consistent with previous records of seasonality described by other researcher [5,42,65,66], demonstrating that these types of passive data contain biologically meaningful signal.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

“…Apart from one recent fine-scale analyses on the phenology of I. scapularis by Simmons et al [42], much of the literature on PA ticks reflects presence/absence data of I. scapularis and/or the pathogens they harbor. There have been 2 exceptions: a study of river otters that found 3 female, 1 nymphal and 1 larval I. cookei on 3 otters, and a study quantifying the ectoparasites of bats in Blair County, PA that identified 5 specimens of soft tick Ornithodoros kelleyi Cooley & Kohls [40,28].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 117 year retrospective analysis of Pennsylvania tick community dynamics

Pak

Jacobs

Sakamoto

2018

Preprint

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BackgroundTick-borne diseases have been increasing at the local, national, and global levels. Researchers studying ticks and tick-borne disease need a thorough knowledge of the pathogens, vectors, and epidemiology of disease spread. Three surveillance approaches are commonly used to provide insight into tick-borne disease risk: human disease case surveillance, active tick surveillance, and passive tick surveillance. Long-term passive surveillance can provide up-to-date data on the spatial variability and temporal dynamics of ectoparasite communities and shed light into the ecology of rarer tick species. We present a retrospective analysis on compiled data of ticks from Pennsylvania over the last 117 years.MethodsWe compiled data from ticks collected during tick surveillance research, and from citizen-based submissions to the Penn State University Department of Entomology (PSUEnt). Specimens were deposited at the PSUEnt arthropod collections that eventually became The Frost Entomological Museum. While most of the specimens were submitted by the public, a subset of the data were collected through active methods (flagging or dragging, or removal of ticks from wildlife). We analyzed all data from 1900-2017 for tick community composition, host associations, and spatio-temporal dynamics.ResultsIn total there were 4,491 submission lots consisting of 7,132 tick specimens. Twenty-four different species were identified, with the large proportion of submissions represented by five tick species. We observed a shift in tick community composition in which the dominant species of tick (Ixodes cookei) was overtaken in abundance by Dermacentor variabilis in the early 1990s, and then replaced in abundance by I. scapularis. We analyzed host data and identified overlaps in host range amongst tick species, suggesting potential hubs of pathogen transfer between different tick vectors and their reservoir hosts.ConclusionsWe highlight the importance of long-term passive tick surveillance in investigating the ecology of both common and rare tick species. Information on the geographic distribution, host-association, and seasonality of the tick community can help researchers and health-officials to identify high-risk areas.

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“…An ideal tick surveillance programme would not only utilize multiple approaches and have a dedicated tick biologist proficient at species identification on staff, but it would also take a proactive stance that is not limited strictly to immediate threats. Since 1993 (~25 years) there have been 28 publications on ticks from Pennsylvania, and 22 of them were focused on I. scapularis and/or the microbiota (mostly on pathogens) [23, 25, 46–71]. While I. scapularis is an important vector that warrants this attention, other tick species are being ignored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A 117-year retrospective analysis of Pennsylvania tick community dynamics

2019

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Background Tick-borne diseases have been increasing at the local, national, and global levels. Researchers studying ticks and tick-borne diseases need a thorough knowledge of the pathogens, vectors, and epidemiology of disease spread. Both active and passive surveillance approaches are typically used to estimate tick population size and risk of tick encounter. Our data consists of a composite of active and long-term passive surveillance, which has provided insight into spatial variability and temporal dynamics of ectoparasite communities and identified rarer tick species. We present a retrospective analysis on compiled data of ticks from Pennsylvania over the last 117 years. Methods We compiled data from ticks collected during tick surveillance research, and from citizen-based submissions. The majority of the specimens were submitted by citizens. However, a subset of the data was collected through active methods (flagging or dragging, or removal of ticks from wildlife). We analyzed all data from 1900–2017 for tick community composition, host associations, and spatio-temporal dynamics. Results In total there were 4491 submission lots consisting of 7132 tick specimens. Twenty-four different species were identified, with the large proportion of submissions represented by five tick species. We observed a shift in tick community composition in which the dominant species of tick ( Ixodes cookei ) was overtaken in abundance by Dermacentor variabilis in the early 1990s and then replaced in abundance by I. scapularis . We analyzed host data and identified overlaps in host range amongst tick species. Conclusions We highlight the importance of long-term passive tick surveillance in investigating the ecology of both common and rare tick species. Information on the geographical distribution, host-association, and seasonality of the tick community can help researchers and health-officials to identify high-risk areas. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-019-3451-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Seasonal Activity, Density, and Collection Efficiency of the Blacklegged Tick (Ixodes scapularis) (Acari: Ixodidae) in Mid-Western Pennsylvania

Cited by 23 publications

References 37 publications

Tick bite and Lyme disease‐related emergency department encounters in New Hampshire, 2010–2014

Tick bite and Lyme disease‐related emergency department encounters in New Hampshire, 2010–2014

A 117 year retrospective analysis of Pennsylvania tick community dynamics

A 117-year retrospective analysis of Pennsylvania tick community dynamics

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