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ARS Home » Plains Area » Kerrville, Texas » Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory » Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #383713
Research Project: Integrated Pest Management of Cattle Fever Ticks

Location: Cattle Fever Tick Research Unit

Title: Chapter 3: Tick biology, ecology, and control

Author
item Perez De Leon, Adalberto - Beto
item MACALUSO, KEVIN - University Of South Alabama
item AUERBACH, JILL - Hudson Valley Lyme Disease Association
item CAHILL, TRACY - Dc Health
item CONNALLY, NEETA - Western Connecticut State University
item DLUK-WASSER, MARIA - Columbia University - New York
item ELSEN, LARS - Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) - United States
item GINSBERG, HOWARD - Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
item MARCUM, LONNIE - Lymediseaseorg
item ROE, MICHAEL - North Carolina State University
item SABATINO, ROBERT - Lyme Society, Inc
item SONENSHINE, DANIEL - National Instiute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases (NIAID, NIH)
item STAFFORD III, KIRBY - Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
item TEEL, PETE - Texas A&M University

Submitted to: Government Publication/Report
Publication Type: Government Publication
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/14/2020
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Several tick-borne microbes cause diseases of public health importance when they are transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected tick. Tick-borne microbes cause zoonotic diseases when ticks during their life cycle acquire the microbes from infected wildlife or domestic animal reservoirs and then bite humans. Zoonotic tick-borne diseases burden the health of millions of humans in the U.S. and other parts of the world. Factors associated with global change drive the spread of zoonotic tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease. This report by the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group describes major factors increasing the risk of tick-borne diseases and lists recommendations to decrease their threat to public health in the U.S.

Technical Abstract: Tick-borne infectious diseases are complex systems defined as zoonotic because the disease-causing agent, or pathogen, is transmitted from wildlife or a domestic animal to a susceptible human through the bite of an infected tick. The increasing incidence of tick-borne diseases and conditions threatens public health in the United States and other parts of the world. Reported cases of tick-borne diseases recently more than doubled in the United States and represent 77% of all vector-borne disease reports. Shifts in the ecology and adaptive biology of tick disease vectors drive the spread of tick-borne diseases killing humans. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognize 18 tick-borne pathogens in the United States. Moreover, researchers and clinicians continue to discover emerging pathogens and new medical conditions associated with tick bites. This includes Alpha-gal Syndrome, a potentially life-threatening allergy to red meat and other mammal-derived products and ingredients. Factors contributing to the increased risk of tick-borne diseases include climate and environmental change, host and vector population increases, range expansion, human use of tick habitats, and introduction of foreign ticks. An enhanced understanding of the reasons for the rising incidence of tick-borne diseases will help scientists and healthcare professionals develop strategies to lower the risk for disease transmission. The Tick-Borne Disease Working Group identified the following three recommendations to minimize the public health threat of tick-borne diseases and conditions. - Implement multi-agency, ecologically-based One Health efforts on tick-borne diseases that promote research and enhanced vector surveillance to identify and validate integrated tick management in keystone wildlife hosts, particularly white-tailed deer, and the sustainable management of their populations. - Minimize the public health threat of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases through special funding for integrated tick management, disruption of tick biological processes that contribute to pathogen transmission, and support of public-private partnerships to develop and promote tick control strategies. - Provide funding to support CDC-directed expanded tick surveillance and promoting the development and implementation of best practices for integrated tick management, capturing human tick bite events, and streamlining education, training, and coordination amongst relevant Federal, state, and local agencies.