Title
Transmission efficiency of the AP-variant 1 strain of Anaplasma phagocytophila
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Date of Original Version
1-1-2003
Abstract
Nymphal Ixodes scapularis ticks were collected from several sites in Rhode Island. DNA was extracted from a subset of these ticks, and PCR and DNA sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene were used to determine the ratio of Anaplasma phagocytophila-human agent (AP-ha) to a genetic variant not associated with human disease (AP-Variant 1). The remaining ticks were allowed to feed to repletion on either white-footed (Peromyscus leucopus) or DBA/2 (Mus musculus) mice. The engorged ticks, and blood samples drawn from each mouse at one-week intervals, were evaluated by PCR and DNA sequencing for the presence of AP-ha and Variant 1. Although a high percentage of the infecting ticks harbored AP-Variant 1, only AP-ha was amplified from the mouse blood samples. Because the A. phagocytophila variant did not establish an infection either in the natural reservoir of AP-ha, the white-footed mouse, or in a common research laboratory mouse (DBA/2), AP-Variant 1 may have an alternative natural reservoir, possibly the white-tailed deer.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences
Volume
990
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Massung, Robert F., Thomas N. Mather, Rachael A. Priestley, and Michael L. Levin. "Transmission efficiency of the AP-variant 1 strain of Anaplasma phagocytophila." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 990, (2003). doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2003.tb07340.x.