High Prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi among Adult Blacklegged Ticks from White-Tailed Deer

Abstract

We compared the prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi infection in questing and deer-associated adult Ixodes scapularis ticks in Wisconsin, USA. Prevalence among deer-associated ticks (4.5% overall, 7.1% in females) was significantly higher than among questing ticks (1.0% overall, 0.6% in females). Deer may be a sylvatic reservoir for this newly recognized zoonotic pathogen.

Keywords

• Borrelia miyamotoi
• Ixodes scapularis
• reservoir competence
• tick-borne disease
• white-tailed deer
• zoonoses