Abstract
In 2017, we surveyed forests in the upper Tennessee Valley, Tennessee, USA. We found Ixodes scapularis ticks established in 23 of 26 counties, 4 of which had Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto–infected ticks. Public health officials should be vigilant for increasing Lyme disease incidence in this region.
Highlights
In 2017, we surveyed forests in the upper Tennessee Valley, Tennessee, USA
Immature I. scapularis ticks are active in the summer, but in southern states, these ticks typically avoid host-seeking above leaf litter and are rarely seen on humans or dragcloths (10)
Assessment of I. scapularis distribution in southern states is best achieved by acquiring adult life-stage ticks during cool season drag-cloth surveys or by collecting ticks from deer harvested in the fall
Summary
In 2017, we surveyed forests in the upper Tennessee Valley, Tennessee, USA. We found Ixodes scapularis ticks established in 23 of 26 counties, 4 of which had Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto–infected ticks. The vector of Lyme disease, the blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis, was unreported in this area before 2006; in this year, uninfected adult ticks were collected from hunter-harvested deer in 8 Tennessee Valley counties (Figure 1, panel A) (2). The Study In late 2017, we sampled host-seeking I. scapularis ticks at 70 forested sites in 26 low-elevation counties in the upper Tennessee Valley (Figure 1, panel B).
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