Is Ixodes (ixodiopsis) angustus a vector of Lyme disease in Washington State?
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to R S Lane.
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The relative abundance of, and spirochetal-infection rates in, adult ixodid ticks from eight Lyme borreliosis clinical-case areas and two comparison areas were investigated in northern California from late fall to early spring, 1984-87. The western black-legged tick (Ixodes pacificus) was the most abundant species at seven of nine sites yielding specimens as determined with a tick drag method. The Pacific Coast tick (Dermacentor occidentalis) was the most abundant species at two sites, and lesser numbers of this tick and the American dog tick (D. variabilis) were obtained from seven and two sites, respectively. Abundance of I. pacificus adults varied in clinical-case areas as well as in the comparison areas, and was not correlated significantly with spirochetal infection rates in this tick. Overall, spirochetes were detected in 1.4 and 1.0% of the adult I. pacificus collected from clinical case (n = 857) and comparison sites (n = 383), respectively, and in 0.8% of adult D. occidentalis (n = 253) from one comparison area. An additional 244 D. occidentalis adults from all other sites were tested with negative results. Five spirochetal isolates recovered from I. pacificus adults were identified as Borrelia burgdorferi with specific monoclonal antibodies. Seven of 10 patients interviewed reportedly contracted their infections in summer, and six presented with a history of tick bite. Nine patients owned or occasionally harbored one or more dogs, and at least one of the dogs contracted Lyme borreliosis at the same site as its owner. Clinical manifestations of the disease in human patients included erythema migrans (100%), arthritis/arthralgia (60%), neurologic abnormalities (60%), and cardiac involvement (20%). Four of nine patients whose sera were assayed by indirect immunofluorescence contained significant antibody titers to B. burgdorferi.
In northern California, antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi were detected in 58 of 73 (79%), and spirochetemias in one of 26 (4%) black-tailed jackrabbits (Lepus californicus californicus), by indirect and direct immunofluorescence, respectively. Five species of ticks (Dermacentor occidentalis, D. parumapertus, Ixodes neotomae, I. pacificus, and Haemaphysalis leporispalustris) were collected from rabbits. Two of these species of ticks were found to contain spirochetes; two of 10 (20%) I. neotomae and two of 174 (1%) H. leporispalustris. A strain of B. burgdorferi was recovered from I. neotomae. One infected H. leporispalustris female passed spirochetes via eggs to about 67% of her progeny. The widespread distribution of the black-tailed jackrabbit, its infestation by at least four ticks (D. occidentalis, D. parumapertus, I. neotomae, and I. pacificus) known to be infected naturally with B. burgdorferi, and the high prevalence of spirochetal antibody in this lagomorph suggest that it might be useful as a sentinel for surveillance of Lyme borreliosis. Spirochetes were detected in 15% of 40 Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) by direct immunofluorescence bound with a Borrelia-specific monoclonal antibody (H9724), but not with a monoclonal antibody (H5332) specific for B. burgdorferi. The geographical overlap of different borreliae in ticks that bite wildlife such as deer may confound spirochetal serosurveys, and underscores the need for more specific serologic tests than those currently available.
Transovarial and transstadial passage of Borrelia burgdorferi was demonstrated for the first time in the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus. One of three field-collected females with spirochetes in ovarial tissues produced 100% infected progeny that maintained the spirochetes transstadially and in 4 of 5 cases passed them via eggs to as many as 97% of F2 filial ticks. The progeny infected ovarially and by subsequent transstadial passage had generalized tissue infections that exhibited reduced immunofluorescence staining reactivity with a fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled polyclonal antibody. Attempts to isolate the spirochete from ticks in BSK medium or various modifications of it were unsuccessful. Spirochetes in tissue smears of all three parasitic stages of the F1 generation were nonreactive with a monoclonal antibody (H5332) specific for B. burgdorferi, whereas those present in tissue smears of F2 larvae bound with it.
Cheyletiella blakei, an ectoparasitic mite of domestic cats, can cause an extremely annoying, persistent and pruritic dermatosis of obscure origin (cryptic infestation) in susceptible persons having close contact with infested cats. Although the prevalence of cheyletiellosis in humans and cats appears to be low, evidence of its occurrence in California is increasing. Cheyletiellosis is often underdiagnosed in both its natural host and in humans. The small size of the mite, lack of publicity about the disease, frequent absence of symptoms in infested cats and failure to recover the mite from humans contribute to its delayed recognition. When C blakei or other mites are suspected of being the cause of a dermatosis, medical entomologists may help to hasten the diagnosis by examining the patient's physical surroundings, potential vertebrate hosts and other sources for the presence of mites. After C blakei has been eliminated from cats with an appropriate pesticide, the disease in humans is self-limiting.
The relationship of native Columbian Black-tailed Deer, two species of exotic deer (Axis and Fallow), and their ticks to the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, was studied in coastal and inland areas of northern California, USA. Spirochetemias were detected in 27% of Black-tailed Deer, 50% of Axis Deer, and 56% of Fallow Deer collected in late fall and winter. Antibody prevalence was 38% in Black-tailed Deer, 24% in Fallow Deer, and 6% in Axis Deer. One to 3 tick species were collected from each species of deer, and 2 tick species were flagged from vegetation; of these, only the Western Black-legged Tick, Ixodes pacificus, was found to contain spirochetes. These findings suggest that all 3 deer species may be important hosts of spirochetes, possibly B. burgdorferi, and reconfirm that I. pacificus is the primary vector of the latter in California.
Important parameters in plasma fractionation are derived from the needs of providing assured quality and the operational requirements of good manufacturing practice. There are many inputs to quality assurance, collectively described as the quality design of the manufacturing process. Quality design is an all-embracing concept depending on selection of source plasma, proper production facilities and equipment systems and highest pharmaceutical operational standards. The scientific process must meet the requirements of safety and efficacy of product and balance the competing parameters of purity, potency and yield within an acceptable economic framework. The paper illustrates problems within the theory of quality design through current experience in the production of immunoglobulin and factor VIII fractions.
A Borrelia-like spirochete was detected in all three parasitic stages of Ornithodoros coriaceus, the soft tick implicated in the epizoology of epizootic bovine abortion. After the spirochete had been isolated, its distinctness from other North American tick-borne borreliae as well as from Spirochaeta aurantia, Treponema pallidum, and Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona was established on the basis of its morphology, protein components, and inability to infect mice. The spirochete is passed trans-stadially and via eggs by ticks, and it is also excreted in coxal fluid after ticks have fed and detached. Circumstantial evidence suggests that the spirochete may be causally related to epizootic bovine abortion.
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To determine the significance of the western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus, as a vector of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, a tick/spirochete survey was conducted in northern California and southwestern Oregon from 1982 to 1984. Of 1,687 adult ticks collected off vegetation, 25 (1.48%) contained spirochetes. Of 715 ticks from Oregon, 14 (1.96%) were infected whereas 11 (1.13%) of 972 ticks from California harbored spirochetes. An isolate of 1 of the spirochetes reacted specifically when treated with monoclonal antibodies to B. burgdorferi. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of a lysate of the isolate showed it to be nearly identical with 2 isolates of B. burgdorferi. Of the 25 infected I. pacificus, 17 had spirochetes in their midgut only; the remaining 8 ticks showed a generalized infection of all the tissues, with midgut, central ganglion and ovary or testes showing heavy spirochetal infections. Decreased immunofluorescent staining reactivity of spirochetes in tissues other than midgut in 6 of 8 I. pacificus with generalized infection may reflect adverse physiologic conditions for the development of spirochetes in the hemocele.
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