Systematic and Applied Acarology (2016) 21, 1-12

John D. Scott, John F. Anderson, Lance Anthony Durden, Morgan L. Smith, Jodi M. Manord and Kerry L Clark (2016)
Ticks parasitizing gallinaceous birds in Canada and first record of Borrelia burgdorferi-infected Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) from California Quail
Systematic and Applied Acarology 21 (1), 1-12
Abstract: In far-western Canada, gallinaceous birds are hosts of hard ticks (Ixodida: Ixodidae) that can carry zoonotic pathogens. In this study, we collected the avian coastal tick, Ixodes auritulus Neumann, the western blacklegged tick, Ixodes pacificus Cooley and Kohls, and Ixodes spinipalpis Hadwen and Nuttall, from gallinaceous birds on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Notably, we provide the first records of these three tick species on California Quail, Callipepla californica (Shaw), in Canada. We document the first records of I. auritulus parasitizing Sooty Grouse, Dendragapus fulginosis (Ridway). Moreover, we furnish the first report of I. spinipalpis on a quail. An I. pacificus nymph was collected from a California Quail, and it was positive for the Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt and Brenner. Using PCR on the nymphal extract and DNA sequencing on the borrelial amplicon, we specifically detected B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.), a genospecies pathogenic to humans and certain domestic animals. Since some ground-dwelling birds are involved in the enzootic maintenance of Lyme disease, veterinarians, wildlife rehabilitators, hunters, and health-care providers should be vigilant that gallinaceous birds may play a role in the enzootic transmission of B. burgdorferi s.l. in Canada.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): John F. Anderson, Kerry L. Clark

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
surveys/sampling/distribution

---

Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Ixodes spinipalpis		Canada (west)
	Ixodes pacificus		Canada (west)
	Ixodes auritulus		Canada (west)