Durden L A, Oliver J H, Kinsey A A
Institute of Arthropodology and Parasitology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro 30460, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2001 Mar;38(2):231-6. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585-38.2.231.
From September 1997 through July 1999, 300 individuals and 46 species of birds were mist-netted and screened for ticks and spirochetes on St. Catherine's Island, Liberty County, GA. Seventy-six (25%) of the birds were parasitized by a meal intensity of 4.6 ticks. Seasonally, more birds were infested with ticks during the summer (50% in 1998, 34% in 1999) than in spring (15% in 1998, 11% in 1999) or fall (21% in 1997, 20% in 1998), mainly because of severe infestations on some birds by immature stages of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), during this season. Eight species ofticks were recovered from 14 species of birds during this study: A. americanum (74 nymphs, 168 larvae); the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say (11 nymphs, 28 larvae), the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (two nymphs, 29 larvae); Ixodes minor Neumann (16 larvae); the rabbit tick. Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard) (one nymph, 14 larvae); the bird tick Ixodes brunneus Koch (two larvae); the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis (Say) (one nymph); and Ixodes affinis Neumann (one larva). The Carolina wren was parasitized by more species of ticks (seven) than any other bird species, followed by the northern cardinal (five), white-throated sparrow (four) and painted bunting (three). Spirochetes were isolated in BSK II medium from one tick (a nymphal A. americanum) and from skin biopsies of 12 (4%) of the individual birds (three downy woodpeckers, three northern waterthrushes, two Carolina wrens, one American redstart, one pine warbler, one Swainson's thrush, and one white-eyed vireo) all in fall 1997. This concentrated phenology of spirochete isolations might reflect periodic amplification or recrudescence of spirochetes in reservoir avian hosts.
1997年9月至1999年7月期间，在佐治亚州利伯蒂县的圣凯瑟琳岛，用雾网捕获了300只个体、46种鸟类，并对其进行蜱虫和螺旋体筛查。其中76只（25%）鸟类被蜱虫寄生，平均每只鸟身上有4.6只蜱虫。从季节上看，夏季被蜱虫寄生的鸟类（1998年为50%，1999年为34%）比春季（1998年为15%，1999年为11%）或秋季（1997年为21%，1998年为20%）更多，主要是因为在此季节，一些鸟类被美洲钝眼蜱未成熟阶段严重寄生。在本研究中，从14种鸟类身上发现了8种蜱虫：美洲钝眼蜱（74只若虫，168只幼虫）；肩突硬蜱（11只若虫，28只幼虫），海湾沿岸蜱（2只若虫，29只幼虫）；微小硬蜱（16只幼虫）；兔蜱（1只若虫，14只幼虫）；鸟蜱（2只幼虫）；美洲犬蜱（1只若虫）；近缘硬蜱（1只幼虫）。卡罗来纳鹪鹩被蜱虫寄生的种类（7种）比其他任何鸟类都多，其次是北方红雀（5种）、白喉带鹀（4种）和彩鹀（3种）。1997年秋季，从1只蜱虫（美洲钝眼蜱若虫）和12只（4%）个体鸟类的皮肤活检样本（3只绒啄木鸟、3只北水鸫、2只卡罗来纳鹪鹩、1只美洲红尾鸲、1只松树莺、1只斯温森氏画眉和1只白眼绿鹃）中分离出螺旋体。螺旋体分离的这种集中物候现象可能反映了螺旋体在储存宿主鸟类中的周期性增殖或复发。
