County-Level Surveillance of White-Tailed Deer Infestation by Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor albipictus (Acari: Ixodidae) Along the Illinois River

Authors

M. Roberto Cortinas, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Uriel Kitron, University of Illinois

Date of this Version

2006

Comments

Published in Journal of Medical Entomology 43(5): 810-819 (2006). Copyright 2006 Entomological Society of America. Used by permission.

Abstract

From 1998 to 2003, 4,935 hunter-killed deer in northern and central Illinois were examined for ticks; 4,066 blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, and 6,530 winter ticks, Dermacentor albipictus (Packard) (Acari: Ixodidae), were collected. I. scapularis was the predominant tick species in the northern portion of the study area, with a decreasing north-to-south prevalence gradient. In contrast, D. albipictus was more common in the south with a decreasing south-to-north prevalence gradient. Compared with previous studies, the geographic range for both species expanded into the central portion of the Illinois River. Prevalence and intensity of both tick species were greater on bucks, and infested bucks were geographically more widespread than infested does and fawns. These findings indicate that blacklegged tick and winter tick distributions remain dynamic in the north central United States