Tick Surveillance in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.

Abstract

THERESA A. PROCHASKA, Dept. of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, West Liberty University, West Liberty, WV, 26074, and ZACHARY J. LOUGHMAN, Dept. of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, West Liberty University, West Liberty, WV, 26074. Tick surveillance in the northern panhandle of West Virginia.

The number of tick-borne disease cases are increasing each year in West Virginia.  Current data on ticks and tick-borne pathogens present in the northern panhandle of West Virginia is limited.  To ascertain what is the tick fauna in the northern panhandle, an active surveillance study was conducted in four counties: Marshall, Ohio, Brooke and Hancock counties.  Ticks were collected via drag sampling June 2020 through December 2020.  2,365 ticks were collected. Ixodes scapularis (89.2%, n=2,109), Dermacentor variabilis (2.8%, n=66), Haemaphysalis leporispalustris (4.6%, n=109) and Haemaphysalis longicornis (3.4%, n=81) were collected in at least one of the four counties.  Haemaphysalis longicornis, not previously found in the northern panhandle, has two new county records in the state of West Virginia.  Tick-borne pathogens, including those causing Lyme disease and Tularemia, may be present in associated tick species collected in the northern panhandle.  Additional research is being conducted to determine which pathogenic strains are present.