MONITORING THE EMERGENCE OF NOVEL TICK SPECIES AND PATHOGENS IN NEW YORK STATE

Abstract

Ticks and tick-borne diseases are an immense burden in New York State (NYS), United States (US). With the emergence of novel pathogens and tick species, the threats to human and animal health may be shifting and increasing across the region. Borrelia miyamotoi is a bacterium that was first discovered in the US in 1994 and has since been shown to be transmitted by all Ixodes species that transmit the causative agent of Lyme disease, including Ixodes scapularis in NYS. Statewide active tick surveillance data from 2015-2020 provided by the NYS Department of Health was used to determine the dynamics of Borrelia miyamotoi human risk. In addition to emerging pathogens, novel tick species are also of concern in NYS. For example, Haemaphysalis longicornis is an invasive tick that was first detected in the US in 2017 and has since been identified in seventeen states, including NYS. In addition, Amblyomma americanum is a native tick that is thought to be reestablishing historical populations in NYS. To understand the range of A. americanum and H. longicornis in NYS, I implemented a community-based science project called the “Tick Blitz” to determine the distribution of these two tick species.