HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Piesman, J. Articles by Burkot, T. R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Piesman, J. Articles by Burkot, T. R.

Ability of Experimentally Infected Chickens to Infect Ticks with the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi

Chickens were used as a laboratory model to determine the conditions affecting the ability of birds to infect ticks with Lyme disease spirochetes. Chicks (Gallus gallus) were exposed to 12 nymphal Ixodes scapularis at one week or three weeks of age. Xenodiagnostic larval ticks fed on these birds at weekly intervals thereafter. Chicks exposed to infected nymphs at one week of age infected 87% of larvae at three weeks of age, but only infected 3% of larvae at four weeks and 0% of larvae at five weeks. Chicks exposed to nymphs at three weeks of age infected only 12% of larvae at four weeks, and 0% thereafter. Thus, experimentally infected chicks can infect larval ticks, but only for a brief interval after exposure. Young chicks are more infectious than older chickens. The immune response of infected chicks was rapid and directed against diverse antigens.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. LoGiudice, R. S. Ostfeld, K. A. Schmidt, and F. Keesing From the Cover: The ecology of infectious disease: Effects of host diversity and community composition on Lyme disease risk PNAS, January 21, 2003; 100(2): 567 - 571. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]