Re: 2005: Lyme in Nova Scotia

Here's a case, Chuck. I wish you would learn how to use pubmed.
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1: J Med Entomol. 2001 Jul;38(4):493-500. Related Articles, Links


Birds disperse ixodid (Acari: Ixodidae) and Borrelia
burgdorferi-infected ticks in Canada.

Scott JD, Fernando K, Banerjee SN, Durden LA, Byrne SK, Banerjee M,
Mann RB, Morshed MG.

Lyme Disease Association of Ontario, Fergus, Canada.

A total of 152 ixodid ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) consisting of nine
species was collected from 82 passerine birds (33 species) in 14
locations in Canada from 1996 to 2000. The Lyme disease spirochete
Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmidt, Hyde, Steigerwaldt & Brenner was
cultured from the nymph of a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say,
that had been removed from a common yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas
L., from Bon Portage Island, Nova Scotia. As a result of bird movement,
a nymphal I. scapularis removed from a Swainson's thrush, Catharus
ustulatus incanus (Godfrey), at Slave Lake, Alberta, during spring
migration becomes the new, most western and northern record of this
tick species in Canada. Amblyomma longirostre Koch, Amblyomma sabanerae
Stoll, and Ixodes baergi Cooley & Kohls are reported for the first time
in Canada. Similarly, Amblyomma americanum L., Arnblyomma maculatum
Koch, and ixodes muris Bishopp & Smith are reported for the first time
on birds in Canada. After removal of an I. muris gravid female from a
song sparrow, Melospiza melodia Wilson, at St. Andrews, New Brunswick,
eggs were laid, which developed into larvae, and this new tick-host
record demonstrates that birds have the potential to start a new tick
population. We conclude that passerine birds disperse several species
of ixodid ticks in Canada, and during spring migration translocate
ticks from the United States, and Central and South America, some of
which are infected with B. burgdorferi.

PMID: 11476328 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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