title: Assessment of the Geographic Distribution of Ornithodoros turicata (Argasidae): Climate Variation and Host Diversity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Ornithodoros turicata is a veterinary and medically important argasid tick that is recognized as a vector of the relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae and African swine fever virus. Historic collections of O. turicata have been recorded from Latin America to the southern United States. However, the geographic distribution of this vector is poorly understood in relation to environmental variables, their hosts, and consequently the pathogens they transmit.
  
  
  METHODS
  Localities of O. turicata were generated by performing literature searches, evaluating records from the United States National Tick Collection and the Symbiota Collections of Arthropods Network, and by conducting field studies. Maximum entropy species distribution modeling (Maxent) was used to predict the current distribution of O. turicata. Vertebrate host diversity and GIS analyses of their distributions were used to ascertain the area of shared occupancy of both the hosts and vector.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results predicted previously unrecognized regions of the United States with habitat that may maintain O. turicata and could guide future surveillance efforts for a tick capable of transmitting high-consequence pathogens to human and animal populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Taylor G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Donaldson
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory and Veterinary Pest Genomics Center, Kerrville, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Adalberto A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pèrez de León
authors.forename: Andrew Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, Invasive Insects Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Andrew I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Castro-Arellano
authors.affiliation: Texas State Guard, Medical Brigade, Uvalde, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wozniak
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: William K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Boyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States of America.
authors.forename: Reid
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hargrove
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hannah K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Wilder
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hee J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, College Station, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Pete D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Teel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi, United States of America.|Department of Pediatrics, National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Job E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lopez
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D058507:Host Specificity; D026861:Ornithodoros / Q000254:growth & development*; D058974:Phylogeography; D014481:United States
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