The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. · Nov 1976
Human babesiosis on Nantucket Island: transmission by nymphal Ixodes ticks.
In order to identify potential vectors of human babesiosis (Babesia microli) in southern Massachusetts, I attempted to transmit the infection via nymphal ticks of that species found to be most abundant on reservoir hosts (Peromyscus leucopus) in nature. Mice were collected at frequent intervals throughout a year in a known enzootic focus on Nantucket Island, and ticks were removed by hand. Ticks of only two species were present; larvae and nymphs of Ixodes scapularis were about 10 times as numerous as were those of Dermacentor variabilis. ⋯ Nymphs reared from larvae that had attached to a non-infected hamster did not transmit babesiosis to other hamsters. These results suggest that I. scapularis serves as a vector of babesios-s on Nantucket hamsters. These results suggest that I. scapularis serves as a vector of babesiosis on Nantucket Island.