The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma maculatum (Ixodida: Ixodidae), and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia in the Highly Urbanized Northeastern United States

We report the multi-year collection of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (Acaridae: Ixodida: Ixodidae) in Staten Island, NewYork City (NYC) as well as their detection in Brooklyn, NYC, and in Atlantic and Cumberland counties in southern New Jersey, USA. The first and most common detectio...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of medical entomology 2022-07, Vol.59 (4), p.1434-1442
Main Authors: Bajwa, Waheed I., Tsynman, Leonid, Egizi, Andrea M., Tokarz, Rafal, Maestas, Lauren P., Fonseca, Dina M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Amblyomma maculatum
climate change
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
Fever
Ixodida
Ixodidae
Larvae
Migratory birds
Migratory species
native-invader
Pathogens
Population density
Populations
Public health
tick-borne disease
Tick-borne diseases
VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES, SURVEILLANCE, PREVENTION
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We report the multi-year collection of the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (Acaridae: Ixodida: Ixodidae) in Staten Island, NewYork City (NYC) as well as their detection in Brooklyn, NYC, and in Atlantic and Cumberland counties in southern New Jersey, USA. The first and most common detections were of adults, however in Freshkills Park on Staten Island larvae were also collected in a following year. The presence of larvae indicates that adults are successfully finding hosts in Staten Island. While it is still unknown how A. americanum reached Staten Island, immatures of this species often parasitize migratory birds, which are now often seen in Freshkills Park. We describe the landscape features of the area in Staten Island where populations were highest and larvae were detected, which could have facilitated the establishment of A. maculatum. Notably, we also report the presence of human pathogens Rickettsia parkeri in 5/10 (50%) of adults tested and R. felis in 1/24 (4.17%) of larvae tested. In addition to established populations in Staten Island we found evidence of A. maculatum in NJ and other NYC boroughs, suggesting current or future establishment is possible. The failure thus far to detect established populations in these areas may be due to inherent difficulties in detecting low density, spatially heterogeneous incipient populations, which could require targeted surveillance efforts for this species. We discuss the consequences to public health of the establishment of A. maculatum and detection of two additional rickettsial pathogens in the densely populated northeastern United States.
ISSN:0022-2585
1938-2928
DOI:10.1093/jme/tjac053