Amblyomma americanum as a Bridging Vector for Human Infection with Francisella tularensis

The γ-proteobacterium Francisella tularensis causes seasonal tick-transmitted tularemia outbreaks in natural rabbit hosts and incidental infections in humans in the south-central United States. Although Dermacentor variabilis is considered a primary vector for F. tularensis, Amblyomma americanum is...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2015-06, Vol.10 (6), p.e0130513-e0130513
Main Authors: Mani, Rinosh J, Metcalf, Jessica Abbey, Clinkenbeard, Kenneth D
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Amblyomma americanum
Anaplasma
Animals
Arachnids
Borrelia burgdorferi
Bridging
Capillaries
Colonization
Dermacentor andersoni
Dermacentor variabilis
Disease transmission
Eggs
Epidemiology
Epizootics
Feeding
Female
Females
Francisella tularensis
Health sciences
Humans
Infections
Ixodidae - microbiology
Laboratories
Larva - genetics
Larvae
Male
Males
Mice
Mice, Inbred BALB C
Molting
Molting - genetics
Nymph - genetics
Nymphs
Outbreaks
Ovaries
Ovary - metabolism
Ovary - microbiology
Overwintering
Public health
Rabbits
Salivary gland
Salivary glands
Salivary Glands - microbiology
Sampling
Sheep
Stem Cells
Studies
Tularemia
Tularemia - microbiology
Tularemia - transmission
Vectors
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Summary:The γ-proteobacterium Francisella tularensis causes seasonal tick-transmitted tularemia outbreaks in natural rabbit hosts and incidental infections in humans in the south-central United States. Although Dermacentor variabilis is considered a primary vector for F. tularensis, Amblyomma americanum is the most abundant tick species in this endemic region. A systematic study of F. tularensis colonization of A. americanum was undertaken to better understand its potential to serve as an overwintering reservoir for F. tularensis and as a bridging vector for human infections. Colony-reared A. americanum were artificially fed F. tularensis subspecies holarctica strain LVS via glass capillaries and colonization levels determined. Capillary-fed larva and nymph were initially infected with 10(4) CFU/tick which declined prior to molting for both stages, but rebounded post-molting in nymphs and persisted in 53% at 10(3) to 10(8) CFU/nymph at 168 days post-capillary feeding (longest sampling time in the study). In contrast, only 18% of adults molted from colonized nymphs maintained LVS colonization at 10(1) to 10(5) CFU/adult at 168 days post-capillary feeding (longest sampling time). For adults, LVS initially colonized the gut and disseminated to salivary glands by 24 h and had an ID50 of
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0130513