A better tick-control trap: Modified bait tube controls disease-carrying ticks and fleas

Abstract

In northwestern California, the dusky-footed wood rat is a primary reservoir of Lyme disease (LD) spirochetes and an important host of three tick species that collectively transmit the causative agents of LD, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and tularemia. It also is infested by two flea species that can transmit the agent of plague. We refined a method of applying pesticides to the host using liquid permethrin-treated bait tubes, and found it to be highly effective for reducing populations of these ticks on wood rats in brushlands. Although permethrin products are not currently registered for this use, this approach offers a promising tool for controlling arthropod-borne diseases in the western United States.