Ixodes marxi feeds primarily on tree squirrels and rarely bites humans, but it cycles Powassan virus lineage 1 through small mammals along with Ixodes cookei. Genetic studies suggest squirrels and groundhogs were the original Powassan reservoir before the virus jumped into the deer tick - white-footed mouse cycle that now drives most human disease.
Ixodes cookei is the textbook vector of Powassan virus lineage 1 in eastern North America, but it almost never bites humans. Its host…
Unlike most Ixodes species, Ixodes marxi spends much of its life in tree cavities and squirrel nests rather than on the ground. Larvae and…
Reported United States Powassan virus cases rose from a handful per year through the 1990s to roughly 30 to 50 per year by the early…
In a deer-tick mouse model, Powassan virus passed to naive mice after as little as 15 minutes of tick attachment. There appears to be no…
Ixodes scapularis takes three blood meals over a roughly two-year life cycle. Larvae and nymphs feed mainly on white-footed mice and other…
Field studies in the northeastern United States routinely find a single white-footed mouse carrying dozens of attached Ixodes scapularis…