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To determine whether the agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) (Anaplasma phagocytophilum) may be maintained in a parallel enzootic cycle between cottontail rabbits and their ticks, we sampled these hosts from a zoonotic site during five transmission seasons. Evidence of infection was sought by microscopy and polymerase chain reaction from rabbit blood or splenic tissue, and from ticks collected from rabbits or from vegetation. Approximately 27% of all rabbits sampled contained evidence of active infection, and 66% were seropositive. The vectorial capacity of Ixodes dentatus was demonstrated by xenodiagnosis studies; in addition, 2% of host-seeking nymphs were infected. Haemaphysalis leporispalustris was not a competent vector. Because of their propensity to densely inhabit peridomestic sites, and because I. dentatus may be transported by birds, a parallel cycle of transmission in cottontail rabbits would facilitate introduction and perpetuation of the agent of HGE.
Received November 12, 2002. Accepted for publication March 3, 2003.
Acknowledgment: This is a contribution of the University of Massachusetts Nantucket Field Station.
Financial support: Our work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (AI-39002) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U50/CCU119560). Heidi K. Goethert was supported, in part, by National Institute of Health NIH training grant AI-07535 "Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases."
Ehrlichia [Cytoecetes] phagocytophilum has recently been reclassified within the genus Anaplasma.4 Although the basis for this decision remains controversial, the Bacteriological Code [unlike the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature] mandates the use of the revised names that have been accepted by the International Society for Systematic Bacteriology.
Authors’ address: Heidi K. Goethert and Sam R. Telford III, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton, MA 01536.
Reprint requests: Sam R. Telford III, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, 200 Westboro Road, North Grafton MA 01536, Telephone: 508-887-4236, Fax: 508-839-7911, E-mail: sam.telford{at}tufts.edu.
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