Geographic distribution of ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in Michigan, with emphasis on Ixodes scapularis and Borrelia burgdorferi

Abstract

A 12-yr (1985-1996) passive survey in Michigan based upon tick submissions from citizens yielded 4,755 ticks of 21 species, 16 of which were probably indigenous in the state. Three species of Dermacentor [most common, D. variabilis Say and D. albipictus (Packard)]; 2 species of Amblyomma [most common, A. americanum (L.)]; and 12 species of Ixodes (most common, I. cookei Packard and I. scapularis Say), as well as Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (Packard), Rhipicephalus sanguineus Latreille, and the soft ticks Ornithodoros kelleyi Cooley & Kohls, and Otobius megnini (Duges) were submitted. New state records were I. kingi Bishopp, I. texanus Banks, I. sculptus Neumann, and I. baergi Cooley & Kohls. Examination of gut smears from dissections of 1,037 ticks of 13 species by indirect immunofluorescent assay, using murine monoclonal H9724 as the primary antibody, revealed that 11 of 175 I. scapularis were infected with Borrelia spp. All positive I. scapularis were from Menominee County in the upper peninsula of the state, which also provided 79.8% of all submitted I. scapularis. Surveys for ticks on 5,449 hunter-killed white-tailed deer were conducted from 1988 to 1990, encompassed deer taken from 65 of the state's 83 counties, and showed that although D. albipictus was distributed widely in the northern part of the state, I. scapularis occurred only on deer taken from southern townships of Menominee County. Of 1,218 canine sera tested for antibodies to B. burgdorferi in 1992 and 1993, 25 of 299 (8.0%) from Menominee County were positive but only 1 of 919 sera submitted from 5 counties in the lower peninsula was positive.