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Title: The United States Department of Agriculture northeast area-wide tick control project - history and protocol

Author
item Pound, Joe
item Miller, John
item George, John
item FISH, DURLAND - YALE, NEW HAVEN, CT

Submitted to: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/27/2009
Publication Date: 8/11/2009
Citation: Pound, J.M., Miller, J.A., George, J.E., Fish, D. 2009. The United States Department of Agriculture northeast area-wide tick control project - history and protocol. Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases. 9(4):365-370.

Interpretive Summary: This manuscript is intended as an introductory document to accompany 8 other manuscripts relating to the USDA Northeast Area-wide Tick Control Project designed to field test efficacy of ARS-patented ‘4-Poster’ Deer Treatment Bait Station technology in decreasing densities of free-living blacklegged ticks and thereby reducing risk of humans contracting Lyme disease and other tick-born diseases. It provides a brief history of the development of the technology, provides history, background, and rationale for the project, and describes the general protocol used at individual research locations in MD, NJ, NY, CT, and RI during the 7-year project.

Technical Abstract: This manuscript summarizes the history of development of the ARS-patented ‘4-Poster’ Deer Treatment Bait Station technology for the control of ticks feeding on white-tailed deer and other wild ungulates, provides the rationale for its use in the USDA Northeast Area-wide Tick Control Project, and describes the general protocol for the research locations in MD, NJ, NY, CT, and RI. The manuscript was written as an introductory document to accompany manuscripts from individual research locations, a manuscript on the relative infectivity of nymphal blacklegged ticks between treatment and control sites, a manuscript describing results of a meta-analysis of efficacy data from all sites, and a summary manuscript that details and compares many operational and technical aspects of the project among the research sites. All nine manuscripts are to be published together as a single volume in Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases.