Journal
TICKS AND TICK-BORNE DISEASES
Volume 12, Issue 3, Pages -Publisher
ELSEVIER GMBH
DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101675
Keywords
4-Poster device; Ehrlichia chaffeensis; Ehrlichia ewingii; Lone star tick; White-tailed deer; Wild turkey
Categories
Funding
- Hatch Act funds from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture [1017821]
- Department of Defense Deployed WarFighter Protection Program - Department of the Army, U.S. Army Contracting Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Natick Contracting Division, Fort Detrick, Maryland [W911QY1910006]
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The study demonstrates that topical treatment of 10% permethrin delivered via 4-poster devices effectively reduces the A. americanum population in Norwalk, Connecticut and significantly decreases parasitizing ticks on white-tailed deer. It also shows that the prevalence of two ehrlichial species of public health importance can be controlled to a certain extent.
The lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum, is a common human-biting species whose range has been largely restricted to the southeastern United States, until recent detections of established populations on Long Island, New York and throughout coastal southern New England. We evaluated the effectiveness of topical treatment of 10 % permethrin delivered via 4-poster devices to white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus, in the management of a newly discovered A. americanum population in Norwalk, Connecticut. Using a high-density deployment of one 4-poster device/12.7 ha, we were successful in significantly reducing densities of host-seeking adults (93 % reduction), nymphs (92 %), and larvae (96 %) from 2018 to 2020. We also documented a significant reduction (87 %) in parasitizing adults and nymphs on white-tailed deer from 2018 to 2019. The prevalence of Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii combined in host-seeking adults declined significantly from 47 % at the time the A. americanum population was discovered in 2017 to 7% in 2020. However, the prevalence in nymphs remained static (similar to 9%) throughout the study period. These data demonstrate that, when properly deployed in a density-dependent manner in terms of deer abundance, 4-poster devices can effectively manage parasitizing and host-seeking A. americanum populations and reduce the prevalence of two ehrlichial species of public health importance.
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