Haemaphysalis leporispalustris feeds almost exclusively on cottontail rabbits and hares and seldom bites humans. It is nevertheless a key wildlife reservoir of Francisella tularensis, maintaining tularemia in rabbit populations through transovarial transmission to its eggs.
Tularemia, caused by Francisella tularensis, can be acquired six different ways: tick bite, deer fly bite, handling infected rabbit…
A single tick species, Amblyomma americanum, transmits ehrlichiosis from Ehrlichia chaffeensis and E. ewingii, tularemia, Heartland virus,…
Ixodes scapularis takes three blood meals over a roughly two-year life cycle. Larvae and nymphs feed mainly on white-footed mice and other…
Ornithodoros hermsi is a soft tick that lives in rodent nests inside walls and rafters of mountain cabins from California to Idaho. It…
Field studies in the northeastern United States routinely find a single white-footed mouse carrying dozens of attached Ixodes scapularis…
Rhipicephalus sanguineus is a competent vector of Rickettsia rickettsii in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where…