Diaz James H
Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, USA.
J La State Med Soc. 2009 Nov-Dec;161(6):325-6, 328, 330-1 passim.
Most emerging infectious diseases today, such as West Nile virus and sudden acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS), arise from zoonotic reservoirs and many are transmitted by arthropod vectors. Ticks are among the most competent and versatile arthropod vectors of infectious diseases because ticks of all ages and both sexes remain infectious for generations without having to reacquire infections from reservoir hosts. Today, ticks transmit the most common arthropod-borne infectious disease in the United States (US), Lyme disease (LD); and the most lethal arthropod-borne infectious disease in the US, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF). Both LD and RMSF are endemic in Louisiana and the Gulf South. Ticks have also become frequent vectors of emerging zoonotic diseases in the Gulf South, including southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), transmitted by the lone star tick, and Maculatum disease, transmitted by the Gulf Coast tick. Recent environmental changes and human lifestyle choices now place humans and ticks together outdoors in the Gulf South for longer periods in welcoming ecosystems for breeding, blood-feeding, and infectious disease transmission. An increasing incidence of emerging and re-emerging, endemic infectious diseases transmitted by existing and unanticipated tick vectors may be expected.
如今，大多数新发传染病，如西尼罗河病毒和严重急性呼吸综合征（SARS），都源自动物宿主，且许多是通过节肢动物媒介传播的。蜱是传染病最有效的和最具传播能力的节肢动物媒介之一，因为所有年龄段和性别的蜱在几代之内都具有传染性，无需从宿主再次感染。如今，蜱传播美国最常见的节肢动物传播传染病——莱姆病（LD）；以及美国最致命的节肢动物传播传染病——落基山斑疹热（RMSF）。LD和RMSF在路易斯安那州和墨西哥湾南部地区均为地方病。蜱也已成为墨西哥湾南部新发人畜共患病的常见传播媒介，包括由孤星蜱传播的南方蜱相关皮疹病（STARI），以及由墨西哥湾沿岸蜱传播的黄斑病。近期的环境变化和人类生活方式的选择，现在使得人类和蜱在墨西哥湾南部的户外生态友好型环境中长时间共处，以进行繁殖、吸血和传染病传播。预计由现有和意外蜱传播媒介传播的新发和再发地方传染病的发病率将会增加。
