Department of Entomology, College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg,VA 24061, U.S.A.
Center for Zoonotic & Arthropod-borne Pathogens, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061, U.S.A.
J Vector Ecol. 2022 Mar;47(1):51-60. doi: 10.52707/1081-1710-47.1.51.
Ticks are known vectors of several viral, bacterial, and protozoal pathogens that cause disease in both humans and animals. While pathogen prevalence has been studied extensively in other portions of the United States, pathogen surveillance studies within tick populations in the central Appalachian region of Virginia is almost nonexistent. Two prominent species in this region are (the blacklegged tick) and (the lone star tick). In this study, we collected ticks biweekly from three habitat types (forest, urban, and pasture) across eight counties in southwest Virginia from June, 2019-November, 2020. and captures were screened for evidence of associated tick-borne pathogens. In this region, sensu stricto (15.3% in nymphs and 37.6% in (2.97% in nymphs and 2.33% in adults) were detected in ticks. Aside from two previously reported Powassan-positive ticks from Floyd County, VA, no additional Powassan-positive ticks are reported here. No evidence of Heartland virus (HRTV), or Bourbon virus (BRBV) was detected in collected Detection and confirmation of multiple emerging tick-borne pathogens in this region raises an increased concern for public health risk, calling for heightened awareness of tick-borne pathogen transmission and increased tick surveillance in understudied areas.
蜱虫是几种病毒、细菌和原生动物病原体的已知载体，这些病原体可导致人类和动物患病。虽然在美国其他地区已经广泛研究了病原体的流行情况，但弗吉尼亚州中阿巴拉契亚地区蜱虫种群中的病原体监测研究几乎不存在。该地区有两种突出的物种，即（黑腿蜱）和（孤星蜱）。在这项研究中，我们从 2019 年 6 月至 2020 年 11 月，在弗吉尼亚州西南部的八个县的三种生境类型（森林、城市和牧场）中每两周收集一次蜱虫。对 和 捕获的蜱虫进行了筛查，以寻找相关蜱传病原体的证据。在该地区，检测到 sensu stricto（15.3%在若虫和 37.6%在 （2.97%在若虫和 2.33%在成虫）。除了弗吉尼亚州弗洛伊德县报告的两例先前确认的波瓦桑阳性蜱虫外，这里没有报告其他的波瓦桑阳性蜱虫。在收集的蜱虫中未检测到 Heartland 病毒（HRTV）或 Bourbon 病毒（BRBV）。该地区检测和确认了多种新兴的蜱传病原体，这引起了人们对公共卫生风险的更高关注，呼吁提高对蜱传病原体传播的认识，并在研究不足的地区加强蜱虫监测。
