title: Assessment of prevalence and distribution of spotted fever group rickettsiae in Manitoba, Canada, in the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae).
abstract: Little is known about the distribution and prevalence of the spotted fever group rickettsiae in Canada. We conducted active surveillance for tick-associated rickettsiae in 10 localities in Manitoba. A total of 1044 adult American dog ticks, Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae), were collected and screened for spotted fever group rickettsiae. Rickettsia montanensis was the only species of rickettsia detected. The mean prevalence of infection was 9.8% (range, 0.00-21.74% among localities). The proportion of infected male and female ticks was not significantly different; however, tick populations near the northern limit of D. variabilis distribution in Manitoba had a lower prevalence of infection compared to tick populations from more southern localities in the province.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Entomology, University of Manitoba , Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada .
authors.forename: Matthew E M
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Yunik
authors.forename: Terry D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Galloway
authors.forename: L Robbin
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Lindsay
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000382:microbiology*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008350:Manitoba / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000662:veterinary; D014481:United States
keywords: Distribution; Drag sampling; Infection prevalence; Ricketttsia montanensis; Spotted fever group rickettsiae