From BioOne
Journal of Medical Entomology: Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 493–500.Birds Disperse Ixodid (Acari: Ixodidae) and Borrelia burgdorferi-Infected Ticks in Canada
John D. Scott,a Keerthi Fernando,b Satyendra N. Banerjee,b, c Lance A. Durden,d Sean K. Byrne,b, c Maya Banerjee,c Robert B. Mann,b and Muhammad G. Morshedb, c
aLyme Disease Association of Ontario, 365 St. David Street S., Fergus, ON, Canada N1M 2L7 bLaboratory Services, British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V5Z 4R4 cDepartment of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, 655 W. 12th Avenue, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V5Z 4R4 dInstitute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460–8056 |
Manuscript Received by the Society 28 August 2000
Manuscript Accepted 9 January 2001
ABSTRACT A total of 152 ixodid ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) consisting of nine species was collected from 82 passerine birds (33 species) in 14 locations in Canada from 1996 to 2000. The Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmidt, Hyde, Steigerwaldt & Brenner was cultured from the nymph of a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, that had been removed from a common yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas L., from Bon Portage Island, Nova Scotia. As a result of bird movement, a nymphal I. scapularis removed from a Swainson’s thrush, Catharus ustulatus incanus (Godfrey), at Slave Lake, Alberta, during spring migration becomes the new, most western and northern record of this tick species in Canada. Amblyomma longirostre Koch, Amblyomma sabanerae Stoll, and Ixodes baergi Cooley & Kohls are reported for the first time in Canada. Similarly, Amblyomma americanum L., Amblyomma maculatum Koch, and Ixodes muris Bishopp & Smith are reported for the first time on birds in Canada. After removal of an I. muris gravid female from a song sparrow, Melospiza melodia Wilson, at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, eggs were laid, which developed into larvae, and this new tick-host record demonstrates that birds have the potential to start a new tick population. We conclude that passerine birds disperse several species of ixodid ticks in Canada, and during spring migration translocate ticks from the United States, and Central and South America, some of which are infected with B. burgdorferi.
Keywords: ticks, Ixodes scapularis, birds, Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease, Canada.
© 2001, Entomological Society of America |
