Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018)
Winter ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) are an aggressive one-host tick that infest a wide-diversity of ungulates. Infestations can result in anemia, alopecia, emaciation, and death. Most notably, the winter tick has caused negative impacts to moose ( Alces alces ) populations in the northeast Unite...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5f1691acd2af4cd9bf5f665b6e5e4417 2023-05-15T13:13:24+02:00 Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) Elizabeth Calvente Samantha Pelletier Jeremiah Banfield Justin Brown Nicole Chinnici 2020-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7040177 https://doaj.org/article/5f1691acd2af4cd9bf5f665b6e5e4417 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/7/4/177 https://doaj.org/toc/2306-7381 doi:10.3390/vetsci7040177 2306-7381 https://doaj.org/article/5f1691acd2af4cd9bf5f665b6e5e4417 Veterinary Sciences, Vol 7, Iss 177, p 177 (2020) Cervus canadensis Dermacentor albipictus Ixodes scapularis hunter-harvested elk Pennsylvania prevalence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7040177 2022-12-31T06:27:31Z Winter ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) are an aggressive one-host tick that infest a wide-diversity of ungulates. Infestations can result in anemia, alopecia, emaciation, and death. Most notably, the winter tick has caused negative impacts to moose ( Alces alces ) populations in the northeast United States and Canada. Winter ticks have been identified on other cervid species, including deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) and elk ( Cervus canadensis ), which generally results in low tick burdens and mild or no disease. Recently, however, a wild yearling bull elk in Pennsylvania was found dead as a result of severe winter tick infestation. To obtain baseline data on winter ticks in wild elk in Pennsylvania, we collected 1453 ticks from 190 hunter-harvested wild elk between 2017–2018. Of the 204 harvested elk, 94.3% (190/204) had ticks collected for this study and none of the sampled elk had evidence of winter-tick associated disease. The average tick burden was 7.7 ticks/elk and average winter tick load on all elk was 0.5. Results of this study indicate that winter ticks do infest wild elk in Pennsylvania. However, during the fall months, the tick burden is low and rarely associated with lesions. These data herein serve as a baseline to monitor winter tick populations over time. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alces alces Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Veterinary Sciences 7 4 177 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Cervus canadensis Dermacentor albipictus Ixodes scapularis hunter-harvested elk Pennsylvania prevalence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 |
spellingShingle |
Cervus canadensis Dermacentor albipictus Ixodes scapularis hunter-harvested elk Pennsylvania prevalence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 Elizabeth Calvente Samantha Pelletier Jeremiah Banfield Justin Brown Nicole Chinnici Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) |
topic_facet |
Cervus canadensis Dermacentor albipictus Ixodes scapularis hunter-harvested elk Pennsylvania prevalence Veterinary medicine SF600-1100 |
description |
Winter ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) are an aggressive one-host tick that infest a wide-diversity of ungulates. Infestations can result in anemia, alopecia, emaciation, and death. Most notably, the winter tick has caused negative impacts to moose ( Alces alces ) populations in the northeast United States and Canada. Winter ticks have been identified on other cervid species, including deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) and elk ( Cervus canadensis ), which generally results in low tick burdens and mild or no disease. Recently, however, a wild yearling bull elk in Pennsylvania was found dead as a result of severe winter tick infestation. To obtain baseline data on winter ticks in wild elk in Pennsylvania, we collected 1453 ticks from 190 hunter-harvested wild elk between 2017–2018. Of the 204 harvested elk, 94.3% (190/204) had ticks collected for this study and none of the sampled elk had evidence of winter-tick associated disease. The average tick burden was 7.7 ticks/elk and average winter tick load on all elk was 0.5. Results of this study indicate that winter ticks do infest wild elk in Pennsylvania. However, during the fall months, the tick burden is low and rarely associated with lesions. These data herein serve as a baseline to monitor winter tick populations over time. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elizabeth Calvente Samantha Pelletier Jeremiah Banfield Justin Brown Nicole Chinnici |
author_facet |
Elizabeth Calvente Samantha Pelletier Jeremiah Banfield Justin Brown Nicole Chinnici |
author_sort |
Elizabeth Calvente |
title |
Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) |
title_short |
Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) |
title_full |
Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) |
title_fullStr |
Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Prevalence of Winter Ticks ( Dermacentor albipictus ) in Hunter-Harvested Wild Elk ( Cervus canadensis ) from Pennsylvania, USA (2017–2018) |
title_sort |
prevalence of winter ticks ( dermacentor albipictus ) in hunter-harvested wild elk ( cervus canadensis ) from pennsylvania, usa (2017–2018) |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7040177 https://doaj.org/article/5f1691acd2af4cd9bf5f665b6e5e4417 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
Alces alces |
genre_facet |
Alces alces |
op_source |
Veterinary Sciences, Vol 7, Iss 177, p 177 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/7/4/177 https://doaj.org/toc/2306-7381 doi:10.3390/vetsci7040177 2306-7381 https://doaj.org/article/5f1691acd2af4cd9bf5f665b6e5e4417 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci7040177 |
container_title |
Veterinary Sciences |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
177 |
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1766258099846381568 |