Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
J Med Entomol. 2024 Nov 14;61(6):1459-1469. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjae114.
The number of tick-borne disease cases continues to rise in the United States, with Lyme disease the most frequently reported vector-borne disease nationally. Practical and effective tick control tools and strategies are needed to reduce tick encounters and tick-borne disease risk. Tick management tubes have shown varying efficacy when used as part of a tick management plan. To evaluate factors contributing to the efficacy of tick management tubes, this study assessed changes in tick tube deployment on tick burden on wild-caught Peromyscus mice, a primary reservoir for the bacterium causing Lyme disease, in Pennsylvania from 2021 to 2023. Over 2 years, tick tubes were deployed starting at different times of the year, with cotton removal from the tubes assessed every 2 weeks from April to November and tick burden on wild-caught mice assessed every 2 months from April to October of each year. The effect of distance between tick management tubes was assessed in year 3 of this study, with mouse tick burden assessed pre- and post-treatment with tick tubes at varying intervals in a field setting. There was a significant reduction in mouse tick burden between treated and control transects, and pre- and post-treatment transects. Tick tube distance did not affect cotton removal or tick burden on mice. Still, cotton removal was highest in September-October, and amount removed increased the longer tick tubes were deployed in the field, highlighting the long-term benefits of using tick tubes as part of an integrated tick management plan. Future investigations to evaluate the impact of tick management tubes on tick nymph density and infection would be valuable for assessing the effectiveness of tick management tubes in reducing tick bite risk.
在美国，蜱传疾病的病例数量持续上升，莱姆病是全国报告最多的虫媒传染病。需要实用且有效的蜱控制工具和策略来减少蜱虫接触和蜱传疾病的风险。蜱管理管在作为蜱管理计划的一部分使用时显示出不同的效果。为了评估影响蜱管理管效果的因素，本研究评估了 2021 年至 2023 年期间宾夕法尼亚州野生捕获的 Peromyscus 小鼠（引起莱姆病的细菌的主要储存库）上蜱管部署变化对蜱负担的影响。在 2 年多的时间里，蜱管在不同的时间开始部署，从 4 月到 11 月每两周评估一次管内棉花的去除情况，从 4 月到 10 月每两个月评估一次野生捕获小鼠的蜱负担。在本研究的第 3 年评估了蜱管理管之间距离的影响，在野外环境中以不同的间隔在处理和对照横截面上评估了小鼠蜱负担。在处理和对照横截面上，以及在处理前和处理后横截面上，都观察到了小鼠蜱负担的显著减少。蜱管距离不会影响棉絮去除或小鼠的蜱负担。尽管如此，棉絮去除在 9 月至 10 月最高，而且在野外放置的时间越长，去除的棉絮越多，这突出了使用蜱管作为综合蜱管理计划的一部分的长期益处。未来评估蜱管理管对蜱若虫密度和感染的影响的研究对于评估蜱管理管在降低蜱叮咬风险方面的有效性将是有价值的。
