Integrated tick management in Guilford, CT: Fipronil-based rodent-targeted bait box deployment configuration and Peromyscus leucopus (Rodentia: cricetidae) abundance drive reduction in tick burdens

Authors: LINSKE, MEGAN - Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; WILLIAMS, SCOTT - Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; STAFFORD, KIRBY - Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; Li, Andrew

Submitted to: Journal of Medical Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/2021
Publication Date: 12/15/2021
Citation: Linske, M.A., Williams, S.C., Stafford, K.C., Li, A.Y. 2021. Integrated tick management in Guilford, CT: Fipronil-based rodent-targeted bait box deployment configuration and Peromyscus leucopus (Rodentia: cricetidae) abundance drive reduction in tick burdens. Journal of Medical Entomology. https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab200.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjab200

Interpretive Summary: The white-footed mouse is the major vertebrate reservoir species for the pathogen that causes Lyme disease in people and an important host for the immature stages of the black-legged tick. Fipronil-based rodent-targeted bait boxes were used as a component of the USDA’s Integrated Tick Management Research Project at field sites in New Haven County, Connecticut. USDA-ARS scientists and researchers from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station investigated how bait box deployment configuration and mouse population density may affect tick control efficacy. Analysis of data collected from study sites during a three-year period (2018-2020) revealed (1) perimeter deployment of bait boxes were more effective in reducing the number of immature ticks feeding on mice; and (2) the overall mouse abundance was a significant predictor for parasitizing tick reduction. Results from this study highlight the importance of proper deployment of bait boxes along the perimeter of residential properties. This bait box deployment strategy can be utilized by vector control professionals and homeowners to improve tick control efficacy of bait boxes, and ultimately contributes to the areawide suppression of black-legged tick populations.

Technical Abstract: Integrated tick management (ITM) is a strategy used to reduce the presence of ticks and their associated pathogens. Such strategies typically employ a combination of host and non-host targeted treatments, one common application of which is fipronil-based, rodent-targeted bait boxes. Bait boxes target small-bodied rodents, specifically white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque) that not only play a crucial role in the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis Say) life cycle, but transmission of numerous pathogens, primarily Borrelia burgdorferi, the causal agent of Lyme disease. This study aimed to determine the effect of bait box deployment configuration on tick control efficacy while contemporaneously further defining the relationship between bait consumption, P. leucopus abundance, and overall reduction in parasitizing juvenile I. scapularis. Bait boxes were deployed on nine properties within each of six neighborhoods in two different configurations: grid and perimeter. Multiple factors were analyzed as potential predictors for parasitizing I. scapularis reduction using a backward stepwise selection procedure. Results indicated that the perimeter configuration was a more effective deployment strategy. In addition, overall P. leucopus abundance was a significant predictor for parasitizing tick reduction. These findings not only further support the recommended bait box deployment configuration, but provide insight into their effective utilization in areas of high mouse abundance. The identification of this significant relationship, in addition to configuration, can be utilized by vector control professionals and homeowners to make informed decisions on overall bait box placement within an ITM framework to make a sustained impact on I. scapularis vector and their associated pathogens.