Detection of pathogens within Ixodid ticks collected from domestic cats across the USA | Parasites & Vectors

  • Beard CB, Eisen L, Eisen RJ. The rise of ticks and tickborne diseases in the United States—Introduction. J Med Entomol. 2021;58:1487–9.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonenshine DE. Range expansion of tick disease vectors in North America: implications for spread of tick-borne disease. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2018;15:478.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Day MJ. One health: the importance of companion animal vector-borne diseases. Parasit Vectors. 2011;4:49.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Skotarczak B. The role of companion animals in the environmental circulation of tick-borne bacterial pathogens. Ann Agric Environ Med AAEM. 2018;25:473–80.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Burroughs JE, Thomasson JA, Marsella R, Greiner EC, Allan SA. Ticks associated with domestic dogs and cats in Florida, USA. Exp Appl Acarol. 2016;69:87–95.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleh MN, Sundstrom KD, Duncan KT, Ientile MM, Jordy J, Ghosh P, et al. Show us your ticks: a survey of ticks infesting dogs and cats across the USA. Parasit Vectors. 2019;12:595.

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Levin ML, Killmaster LF, Zemtsova GE. Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) as reservoir hosts for Rickettsia conorii. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2012;12:28–33.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Starkey LA, Barrett AW, Chandrashekar R, Stillman BA, Tyrrell P, Thatcher B, et al. Development of antibodies to and PCR detection of Ehrlichia spp. in dogs following natural tick exposure. Vet Microbiol. 2014;173:379–84.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Yabsley MJ, Adams DS, O’Connor TP, Chandrashekar R, Little SE. Experimental primary and secondary infections of domestic dogs with Ehrlichia ewingii. Vet Microbiol. 2011;150:315–21.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Beall MJ, Alleman AR, Breitschwerdt EB, Cohn LA, Couto CG, Dryden MW, et al. Seroprevalence of Ehrlichia canis, Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia ewingii in dogs in North America. Parasit Vectors. 2012;5:29.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Duncan AW, Correa MT, Levine JF, Breitschwerdt EB. The dog as a sentinel for human infection: prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi C6 antibodies in dogs from Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic states. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2005;5:101–9.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Mead P, Goel R, Kugeler K. Canine serology as adjunct to human Lyme disease surveillance. Emerg Infect Dis. 2011;17:1710–2.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Paddock CD, Brenner O, Vaid C, Boyd DB, Berg JM, Joseph RJ, et al. Short report: concurrent Rocky Mountain spotted fever in a dog and its owner. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2002;66:197–9.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Lappin MR. Update on flea and tick associated diseases of cats. Vet Parasitol. 2018;254:26–9.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouloy RP, Lappin MR, Holland CH, Thrall MA, Baker D, O’Neil S. Clinical ehrlichiosis in a cat. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1994;204:1475–8.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Breitschwerdt EB, Abrams-Ogg ACG, Lappin MR, Bienzle D, Hancock SI, Cowan SM, et al. Molecular evidence supporting Ehrlichia canis-like infection in cats. J Vet Intern Med. 2002;16:642–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hegarty BC, Qurollo BA, Thomas B, Park K, Chandrashekar R, Beall MJ, et al. Serological and molecular analysis of feline vector-borne anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis using species-specific peptides and PCR. Parasit Vectors. 2015;8:320.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoyt K, Chandrashekar R, Beall M, Leutenegger C, Lappin MR. Evidence for clinical anaplasmosis and borreliosis in cats in Maine. Top Companion Anim Med. 2018;33:40–4.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Lappin MR, Breitschwerdt EB, Jensen WA, Dunnigan B, Rha J-Y, Williams CR, et al. Molecular and serologic evidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in cats in North America. J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2004;225:893–6.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Savidge C, Ewing P, Andrews J, Aucoin D, Lappin MR, Moroff S. Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection of domestic cats: 16 cases from the northeastern USA. J Feline Med Surg. 2016;18:85–91.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Lappin MR, Chandrashekar R, Stillman B, Liu J, Mather TN. Evidence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi infection in cats after exposure to wild-caught adult Ixodes scapularis. J Vet Diagn Invest. 2015;27:522–5.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Little SE, Barrett AW, Nagamori Y, Herrin BH, Normile D, Heaney K, et al. Ticks from cats in the United States: patterns of infestation and infection with pathogens. Vet Parasitol. 2018;257:15–20.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith RC, Starkey LA, Bowles JV, Butler JM, Mount J, Land TM, et al. Nationwide seroprevalence of Dirofilaria immitis antigen and antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma spp., and Ehrlichia spp. in shelter cats in the United States, 2007–2011. Parasitologia. 2024;4:332–44.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichard MV, Sanders TL, Weerarathne P, Meinkoth JH, Miller CA, Scimeca RC, et al. Cytauxzoonosis in North America. Pathogens. 2021;10:1170.

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Duplan F, Davies S, Filler S, Abdullah S, Keyte S, Newbury H, et al. Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., Haemoplasma species and Hepatozoon spp. in ticks infesting cats: a large-scale survey. Parasit Vectors. 2018;11:201.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Probst J, Springer A, Fingerle V, Strube C. Frequency of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Borrelia spp., and coinfections in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from dogs and cats in Germany. Parasit Vectors. 2024;17:87.

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Strickland RK. Ticks of Veterinary Importance. Agriculture Department; 1976.

  • Keirans JE, Clifford CM. The genus Ixodes in the United States: a scanning electron microscope study and key to adults. J Med Entomol. 1978;15:1–38.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbour AG, Maupin GO, Teltow GJ, Carter CJ, Piesman J. Identification of an uncultivable Borrelia species in the hard tick Amblyomma americanum: possible agent of a Lyme disease-like illness. J Infect Dis. 1996;173:403–9.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Little SE, Dawson JE, Lockhart JM, Stallknecht DE, Warner CK, Davidson WR. Development and use of specific polymerase reaction for the detection of an organism resembling Ehrlichia sp. in white-tailed deer. J Wildl Dis. 1997;33:246–53.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson BE, Sumner JW, Dawson JE, Tzianabos T, Greene CR, Olson JG, et al. Detection of the etiologic agent of human ehrlichiosis by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1992;30:775–80.

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Dawson JE, Ewing SA. Susceptibility of dogs to infection with Ehrlichia chaffeensis, causative agent of human ehrlichiosis. Am J Vet Res. 1992;53:1322–7.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Bondy PJ Jr, Cohn LA, Tyler JW, Marsh AE. Polymerase chain reaction detection of Cytauxzoon felis from field-collected ticks and sequence analysis of the small subunit and internal transcribed spacer 1 region of the ribosomal RNA gene. J Parasitol. 2005;91:458–61.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichard MV, Edwards AC, Meinkoth JH, Snider TA, Meinkoth KR, Heinz RE, et al. Confirmation of Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) as a vector for Cytauxzoon felis (Piroplasmorida: Theileriidae) to domestic cats. J Med Entomol. 2010;47:890–6.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Heise SR, Elshahed MS, Little SE. Bacterial diversity in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) with a focus on members of the genus Rickettsia. J Med Entomol. 2010;47:258–68.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Stothard DR. The evolutionary history of the genus Rickettsia as inferred from 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA genes and the 17 kilodalton cell surface antigen gene. Ohio: The Ohio State University; 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • Randolph SE, Gern L, Nuttall PA. Co-feeding ticks: epidemiological significance for tick-borne pathogen transmission. Parasitol Today. 1996;12:472–9.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Adams SN, Bestul NC, Calloway KN, Kersh GJ, Salzer JS. National surveillance of human ehrlichiosis caused by Ehrlichia ewingii, United States, 2013–2021. Emerg Infect Dis. 2025;31:222–7.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahlgren FS, Heitman KN, Drexler NA, Massung RF, Behravesh CB. Human granulocytic anaplasmosis in the United States from 2008 to 2012: a summary of national surveillance data. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015;93:66–72.

    Article 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz AM. Surveillance for Lyme disease—United States, 2008–2015. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2017.

  • Buller RS, Arens M, Hmiel SP, Paddock CD, Sumner JW, Rikihisa Y, et al. Ehrlichia ewingii, a newly recognized agent of human ehrlichiosis. N Engl J Med. 1999;341:148–55.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Krause PJ, Fish D, Narasimhan S, Barbour AG. Borrelia miyamotoi infection in nature and in humans. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015;21:631–9.

    Article 
    CAS 
    PubMed Central 

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon AB, Rucinsky R, Gaff HD, Brinkerhoff RJ. Borrelia miyamotoi, other vector-borne agents in cat blood and ticks in eastern Maryland. EcoHealth. 2017;14:816–20.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichard MV, Meinkoth JH, Edwards AC, Snider TA, Kocan KM, Blouin EF, et al. Transmission of Cytauxzoon felis to a domestic cat by Amblyomma americanum. Vet Parasitol. 2009;161:110–5.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones EH, Hinckley AF, Hook SA, Meek JI, Backenson B, Kugeler KJ, et al. Pet ownership increases human risk of encountering ticks. Zoonoses Public Health. 2018;65:74–9.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichard MV, Thomas JE, Arther RG, Hostetler JA, Raetzel KL, Meinkoth JH, et al. Efficacy of an imidacloprid 10%/flumethrin 45% collar (seresto®, bayer) for preventing the transmission of Cytauxzoon felis to domestic cats by Amblyomma americanum. Parasitol Res. 2013;112:11–20.

    Article 

    Google Scholar 

  • Reichard MV, Rugg JJ, Thomas JE, Allen KE, Barrett AW, Murray JK, et al. Efficacy of a topical formulation of selamectin plus sarolaner against induced infestations of Amblyomma americanum on cats and prevention of Cytauxzoon felis transmission. Vet Parasitol. 2019;270:S31–7.

    Article 
    CAS 

    Google Scholar 

  • Continue Reading