Entomological Correlates of Babesia microti Prevalence in an Area Where Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) Is Endemic

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Abstract
Zoonotic prevalence of Babesia microti Franca piroplasms infecting white-footed mice, Peromyscus leucopus Rafinesque, was determined at 34 sites in Rhode Island where nymphal blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis Say, densities ranged from low to hyperabundant (1.7–525.3 nymphs per hour of flagging). Babesia was only detected at sites where tick abundance was moderate to high (>20 nymphs per hour of flagging) and appeared to exhibit a clumped distribution. Where B. microti was detected, the mean number of nymphal ticks collected per hour of flagging was 229.2 compared with a mean of 40.1 at sites where Babesia was not detected. By combining the spatial occurrence of Babesia with a tick density database in a geographic information system, it may be possible to predict the pattern of zoonotic and human infection with B. microti.

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