PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are a main host for the adult life stages of tick species of medical and veterinary importance. Since white-tailed deer play a vital role in tick ecology, research has been conducted to understand this tick-host relationship. To date, research involving captive white-tailed deer and artificial infestation of these animals with ticks has focused on host suitability, the role of white-tailed deer in tick-borne diseases, and anti-tick vaccine research. The methodology reported for these studies was at times not descriptive and inconsistent regarding how and what region of the white-tailed deer was infested with ticks. Here, we propose a standardized method to artificially infest captive white-tailed deer with ticks for research purposes. The protocol describes a method proven effective to experimentally infest captive white-tailed deer with blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) to study tick-host interactions. The methods can be reliably transferred for experimental infestation of white-tailed deer by other multi-host and one-host tick species.
摘要：
白尾鹿（Odocoileusvirginianus）是具有医学和兽医学重要性的tick虫的成年生命阶段的主要宿主。由于白尾鹿在蜱生态中起着至关重要的作用，已经进行了研究，以了解这种蜱主机关系。迄今为止,涉及圈养白尾鹿和用蜱人工侵扰这些动物的研究集中在宿主适用性上，白尾鹿在蜱传疾病中的作用，和抗蜱疫苗研究。这些研究报告的方法有时不是描述性的，并且在白尾鹿的哪个区域以及哪个区域感染了蜱虫。这里,为了研究目的，我们提出了一种标准化的方法，用蜱人工感染圈养白尾鹿。该协议描述了一种有效的方法，该方法可通过实验用黑腿蜱（Ixodescapularis）感染圈养白尾鹿，以研究蜱与宿主的相互作用。这些方法可以可靠地转移到其他多宿主和单宿主蜱物种对白尾鹿的实验性侵染中。
