Goddard Jerome, Varela-Stokes Andrea S
Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762, USA.
Vet Parasitol. 2009 Mar 9;160(1-2):1-12. doi: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2008.10.089. Epub 2008 Oct 28.
We reviewed scientific literature pertaining to known and putative disease agents associated with the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum. Reports in the literature concerning the role of the lone star tick in the transmission of pathogens of human and animal diseases have sometimes been unclear and even contradictory. This overview has indicated that A. americanum is involved in the ecology of several disease agents of humans and other animals, and the role of this tick as a vector of these diseases ranges from incidental to significant. Probably the clearest relationship is that of Ehrlichia chaffeensis and A. americanum. Also, there is a definite association between A. americanum and tularemia, as well as between the lone star tick and Theileria cervi to white-tailed deer. Evidence of Babesia cervi (= odocoilei) being transmitted to deer by A. americanum is largely circumstantial at this time. The role of A. americanum in cases of southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) is currently a subject of intensive investigations with important implications. The lone star tick has been historically reported to be a vector of Rocky Mountain spotted fever rickettsiae, but current opinions are to the contrary. Evidence incriminated A. americanum as the vector of Bullis fever in the 1940s, but the disease apparently has disappeared. Q fever virus has been found in unfed A. americanum, but the vector potential, if any, is poorly understood at this time. Typhus fever and toxoplasmosis have been studied in the lone star tick, and several non-pathogenic organisms have been recovered. Implications of these tick-disease relationships are discussed.
我们回顾了与美洲钝眼蜱（Amblyomma americanum）相关的已知和假定疾病病原体的科学文献。文献中关于美洲钝眼蜱在人类和动物疾病病原体传播中作用的报道有时并不明确，甚至相互矛盾。本综述表明，美洲钝眼蜱参与了几种人类和其他动物疾病病原体的生态过程，并且这种蜱作为这些疾病的传播媒介，其作用范围从偶然到重要不等。可能最明确的关系是恰菲埃立克体（Ehrlichia chaffeensis）与美洲钝眼蜱之间的关系。此外，美洲钝眼蜱与兔热病之间存在明确关联，孤星蜱与白尾鹿的瑟氏泰勒虫（Theileria cervi）之间也存在关联。目前，美洲钝眼蜱将鹿蜱巴贝斯虫（Babesia cervi = odocoilei）传播给鹿的证据大多是间接的。美洲钝眼蜱在南方蜱相关皮疹病（STARI）病例中的作用目前是深入研究的课题，具有重要意义。历史上曾报道孤星蜱是落基山斑疹热立克次体的传播媒介，但目前的观点则相反。在20世纪40年代有证据表明美洲钝眼蜱是布利斯热的传播媒介，但这种疾病显然已经消失。在未进食的美洲钝眼蜱中发现了Q热病毒，但目前对其传播媒介潜力（如果有的话）了解甚少。已经对孤星蜱中的斑疹伤寒热和弓形虫病进行了研究，并分离出了几种非致病生物。讨论了这些蜱与疾病关系的影响。
