title: Entomological correlates of Babesia microti prevalence in an area where Ixodes scapularis (Acari:Ixodidae) is endemic.
abstract: Zoonotic prevalence of Babesia microti Franca piroplasms infecting white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque, was determined at 34 sites in Rhode Island where nymphal blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, densities ranged from low to hyperabundant (1.7-525.3 nymphs per hour of flagging). Babesia was only detected at sites where tick abundance was moderate to high (> 20 nymphs per hour of flagging) and appeared to exhibit a clumped distribution. Where B. microti was detected, the mean number of nymphal ticks collected per hour of flagging was 229.2 compared with a mean of 40.1 at sites where Babesia was not detected. By combining the spatial occurrence of Babesia with a tick density database in a geographic information system, it may be possible to predict the pattern of zoonotic and human infection with B. microti.
authors.affiliation: Center for Vector-Borne Disease, University of Rhode Island, Kingston 02881-0804, USA.
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Mather
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nicholson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: N J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001403:Babesia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018884:Ixodes; D010542:Peromyscus / Q000469:parasitology