Seasonality and disease potential of the black-legged deer tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, in Mississippi

Seasonality and Disease Potential of the Black-legged Deer tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, in Mississippi

Goltz, L.,¹ Varela-Stokes, A.S.,² and Goddard, J.¹

¹Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University; ²Department of Basic Sciences, Mississippi State University;

Ixodes scapularis Say is the primary vector of the agent of Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi) in the eastern U.S. Studies of the seasonality of the immatures of this tick are lacking in the southern U.S. In an attempt to clarify seasonality of larval and nymphal I. scapularis in Mississippi, ticks were collected weekly with a 1m² corduroy drag cloth from two sites in Mississippi for an entire year (August 2010 – July 2011). One site was located in extreme north Mississippi at Wall Doxey State Park in Holly Springs, and the other in north-central Mississippi at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge in Starkville. Environmental data, consisting of temperature, sky condition, and relative humidity, were observed and recorded for each collection date and site. All ticks collected in the field were preserved in 95% ethanol and returned to the lab where they were counted, identified to species and appropriately labeled. Both the environmental data and temporal data are being analyzed with SAS and R statistical software. For screening for disease agents, adult I. scapularis were macerated and DNA extracted. DNA extracts were frozen for further analysis and are currently being tested for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Babesia ssp. using PCR methodology.