Hermsi Ticks Case Study
BHS432 Module 2 – Case Assignment:
Vectors and Pathogens
Spring 2013
Question 1a:
Describe differentiating characteristics between Dermacentor variabilis, Ixodes pacificus, and Ornithodoros hermsi ticks.
Question 1b:
Identify vectorborne diseases associated with these ticks, and describe the pathogens associated with these diseases.
Question 1c:
Describe preferred feeding locations of ticks.
Question 2:
Describe the effect of climate on vectors and vectorborne diseases.
The western-blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) can transmit the organisms responsible for causing anaplasmosis and Lyme disease in humans. Wild rodents and other mammals are likely reservoirs of these pathogens. This tick is distributed along the Pacific coast of the United States. ” Larvae and nymphs feed on birds and small rodents, while adult ticks feed on deer and other mammals” (J. BURRASCANO, 1988). Adult ticks are primarily associated with pathogen transmission to humans.
Ornithodoros hermsi are called “soft” ticks because they have a soft outer covering Argasid ticks have multiple life stages. Each life stage may feed several times, for only minutes at a time. Most patients rarely every see or know they have been bitten by a soft tick.
Primary vector of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) in southeastern states. Adult tick preferred …show more content…
Climate can have a direct effect on physical conditions (temperature, rainfall, etc.) and an indirect effect on biologic conditions (plants, animals). These physical and biologic conditions can, in turn, influence vector-borne disease risk by impacting the abundance and distribution of tick vectors, the percent of vectors infected with disease agents, the abundance and distribution of animal reservoirs, the presence of suitable habitat for these vectors, and people’s behaviors that bring them into contact with infected
Vectors and Pathogens
Spring 2013
Question 1a:
Describe differentiating characteristics between Dermacentor variabilis, Ixodes pacificus, and Ornithodoros hermsi ticks.
Question 1b:
Identify vectorborne diseases associated with these ticks, and describe the pathogens associated with these diseases.
Question 1c:
Describe preferred feeding locations of ticks.
Question 2:
Describe the effect of climate on vectors and vectorborne diseases.
The western-blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus) can transmit the organisms responsible for causing anaplasmosis and Lyme disease in humans. Wild rodents and other mammals are likely reservoirs of these pathogens. This tick is distributed along the Pacific coast of the United States. ” Larvae and nymphs feed on birds and small rodents, while adult ticks feed on deer and other mammals” (J. BURRASCANO, 1988). Adult ticks are primarily associated with pathogen transmission to humans.
Ornithodoros hermsi are called “soft” ticks because they have a soft outer covering Argasid ticks have multiple life stages. Each life stage may feed several times, for only minutes at a time. Most patients rarely every see or know they have been bitten by a soft tick.
Primary vector of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) in southeastern states. Adult tick preferred …show more content…
Climate can have a direct effect on physical conditions (temperature, rainfall, etc.) and an indirect effect on biologic conditions (plants, animals). These physical and biologic conditions can, in turn, influence vector-borne disease risk by impacting the abundance and distribution of tick vectors, the percent of vectors infected with disease agents, the abundance and distribution of animal reservoirs, the presence of suitable habitat for these vectors, and people’s behaviors that bring them into contact with infected