Does Dermacentor variabilis, the American dog tick, transmit Lyme disease?

An Annotated Bibliography

Lyme disease is a serious bacterial infection caused by a tick bite and affects humans and animals.

The Dermacentor variabilis tick is commonly known as the American dog tick and sometimes is called the wood tick or, infrequently, the eastern wood tick.

The Dermacentor variabilis tick has been shown in several studies to carry the Lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi. However, the issue that is not resolved completely is whether or not the D. variabilis tick transmits Lyme disease. This web page divides the literature on the subject into categories - see Table of Contents. If available, each category contains journal citations from the NIH NLM MEDLINE database and links to other web pages or articles.

Other factors, not addressed below, that may impact the issue of Lyme disease transmission by the American dog tick, Dermacentor variabilis:

- Method of tick removal
- Elapsed time before partially fed tick bites human

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This page contains citations and highlighted extracts for medical and scientific articles from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Library of Medicine (NLM) MEDLINE database about the American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis). Citations are sorted by date within categories.

Note: The abstracts and annotations below were gleaned from citations found by the following link:
MEDLINE - D. variabilis (American dog tick) AND Lyme disease - 68 on 12 May 01

Click on link shown after "TITLE:" to see complete citation/abstract.

Does Dermacentor variabilis, the American dog tick, transmit Lyme disease?

Dermacentor variabilis, commonly known as the American dog tick, wood tick, or, infrequently, eastern wood tick.

The American Dog Tick, The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
Welcome to the World of the American Dog Tick, Green Valley Pest Control
Ticks Biology and Control, Purdue University
Dermacentor variablis (American Dog Tick): Narrative, University of Michigan

Dermacentor variabilis CARRYS the Lyme disease bacteria.

TITLE:
Prevalence of infection in ticks submitted to the human tick test kit program of the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine.
AUTHORS:
Stromdahl EY, Evans SR, O'Brien JJ, Gutierrez AG
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Entomological Sciences Program, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010-5403, USA.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 2001 Jan;38(1):67-74
"One hundred twenty-seven D. variabilis from Monroe County, WI, were tested for B. burgdorferi and 14 (11%) were positive."
PMID: 11268694

TITLE:
Tick-raccoon associations and the potential for Lyme disease spirochete transmission in the coastal plain of North Carolina.
AUTHORS:
Ouellette J, Apperson CS, Howard P, Evans TL, Levine JF
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7647, USA.
SOURCE:
J Wildl Dis 1997 Jan;33(1):28-39
"Similarly, a small percentage (1.9%) of host-associated A. americanum, D. variabilis, I. texanus and I. cookei contained B. burgdorferi."
PMID: 9027688

TITLE:
Risk of human exposure to vector ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in a heavily used recreational area in northern California.
AUTHORS:
Lane RS
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
SOURCE:
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1996 Aug;55(2):165-73
Erratum in:
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1997 Nov;57(5):634
"Several adult ticks collected adjacent to trails were found to contain spirochetes identified with polyclonal antibodies as Borrelia burgdorferi (D. occidentalis, 0 of 861; D. variabilis, 2 of 126 [1.6%]; I. pacificus, 1 of 609 [0.2%]). "
PMID: 8780455

TITLE:
Borrelia burgdorferi in eastern Virginia: comparison between a coastal and inland locality.
AUTHORS:
Sonenshine DE, Ratzlaff RE, Troyer J, Demmerle S, Demmerle ER, Austin WE, Tan S, Annis BA, Jenkins S
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia, USA.
SOURCE:
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1995 Aug;53(2):123-33
"Immunofluorescence antibody assays specific for B. burgdorferi showed spirochete infection in Ixodes scapularis and Dermacentor variabilis "
PMID: 7677212

TITLE:
Evidence supporting the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Missouri.
AUTHORS:
Feir D, Santanello CR, Li BW, Xie CS, Masters E, Marconi R, Weil G
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Biology, St. Louis University, Missouri.
SOURCE:
Am J Trop Med Hyg 1994 Oct;51(4):475-82
"Spirochetes were detected and identified as B. burgdorferi by immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) tests using the monoclonal antibody H5332 in 1.9% of Amblyomma americanum and 2.0% of Dermacentor variabilis ticks collected. The identity of IFA-positive organisms was verified by polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) with two different sets of B. burgdorferi-specific primers followed by Southern blotting... These results confirm that B. burgdorferi is present in questing D. variabilis and A. americanum ticks in areas of Missouri where Lyme disease occurs."
PMID: 7943575

TITLE:
Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in host-seeking ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from a Lyme disease endemic area in northern Michigan.
AUTHORS:
Walker ED, Smith TW, DeWitt J, Beaudo DC, McLean RG
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1994 Jul;31(4):524-8
"The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner, was recovered from the guts of questing Ixodes scapularis Say adults and nymphs and adult Dermacentor variabilis (Say), collected in Menominee County, Michigan, in 1992."
PMID: 7932597

TITLE:
Distribution of the Lyme disease vector, Ixodes dammini (Acari: Ixodidae) and isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ontario, Canada.
AUTHORS:
Barker IK, Surgeoner GA, Artsob H, McEwen SA, Elliott LA, Campbell GD, Robinson JT
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Pathology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Canada.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1992 Nov;29(6):1011-22
"Borrelia burgdorferi was isolated from 10 of 151 P. leucopus; from larval and nymphal I. dammini; and from nymphal and adult D. variabilis, all from Long Point."
PMID: 1460617

TITLE:
Borrelia burgdorferi in ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from coastal Virginia.
AUTHORS:
Levine JF, Sonenshine DE, Nicholson WL, Turner RT
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Microbiology, Pathology, and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1991 Sep;28(5):668-74
"B. burgdorferi was evident in nine (22%) Ixodes cookei Packard removed from rice rats (Oryzomys palustris), a white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), and raccoons (Procyon lotor); four (6%) Amblyomma americanum (L.) removed from raccoons; and two (3%) Dermacentor variabilis (Say) removed from a raccoon and a rice rat."
PMID: 1941936

TITLE:
Identification of endemic foci of Lyme disease: isolation of Borrelia burgdorferi from feral rodents and ticks (Dermacentor variabilis).
AUTHORS:
Anderson JF, Johnson RC, Magnarelli LA, Hyde FW
SOURCE:
J Clin Microbiol 1985 Jul;22(1):36-8
"One spirochetemic mouse had infected Ixodes dammini and Dermacentor variabilis larvae attached, suggesting that these ticks may have acquired spirochetes from the host. Spirochetes isolated from P. leucopus, T. striatus, and D. variabilis larvae were serologically and genetically indistinguishable from reference B. burgdorferi isolates."
PMID: 3926816

TITLE:
Avian and mammalian hosts for spirochete-infected ticks and insects in a Lyme disease focus in Connecticut.
AUTHORS:
Anderson JF, Magnarelli LA
SOURCE:
Yale J Biol Med 1984 Jul-Aug;57(4):627-41
"Spirochetes were detected in the midguts of I. dammini, Dermacentor variabilis, and H. leporispalustris and two species of insects (Cuterebra fontinella and Orchopeas leucopus)." PMID: 6516460

Also see:

Lyme Disease, Thomas J. Lane, D.V.M. and Paul Nicoletti, D.V.M., M.S, University of Florida
["can also carry the disease"]

Detection of Bb in Potential Tick Vectors from Selected Counties in Arkansas
[PCR-positive for Borrelia burgdorferi]

Dermacentor variabilis TRANSMITS Lyme disease.

Also see:

Lab Animal Resources, Colorado State University
[is a vector for Lyme disease]

Occupational Health - Zoonotic Disease Fact Sheet #38, Kansas State University
[is a vector for Lyme disease]

Dermacentor variabilis MAYBE TRANSMITS Lyme disease.

TITLE:
[The taxonomic aspects of the transmission of the causative agent of Lyme disease].

[Article in Russian]

AUTHORS:
Filippova NA
SOURCE:
Parazitologiia 1990 Jul-Aug;24(4):257-67
According to world literature data 17 species of ixodid ticks have been studied for natural infection with the Lyme disease agent. Analysis of the data on the level of the infection, transovarial and transphase transmission has shown that main biological vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi are the species of the subgenus Ixodes s. str. - I. ricinus, I. persulcatus (Eurasia), I. dammini, I. pacificus (North America). Potential vectors are I. scapularis, I. dentatus, Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis.
PMID: 2259524

Also see:

Lyme Disease Pamphlet, Texas A and M
["may play some role in Lyme epidemiology..More research is needed to clarify the roles of these ticks in Lyme transmission."]

CDC: Lyme Disease and Cases Occurring during Pregnancy -- United States, June 28, 1985
["may be vector"]

Lyme disease questions and Answers, Missouri DOH
["might carry the bacteria in Missouri"]

Lyme Disease FAQ, Brochure by: Lloyd E. Miller, DVM, Troy, New York
["may also be capable of transmitting" Lyme disease]

Dermacentor variabilis NOT AN IMPORTANT VECTOR of Lyme disease.

TITLE:
Apparent incompetence of Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) and fleas (Insecta: Siphonaptera) as vectors of Borrelia burgdorferi in an Ixodes dammini endemic area of Ontario, Canada.
AUTHORS:
Lindsay LR, Barker IK, Surgeoner GA, McEwen SA, Elliott LA, Kolar J
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Environmental Biology, Ontario Agriculture College, University of Guelph, Canada.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1991 Sep;28(5):750-3
"None of 593 adult, 2 nymphal, and 4 larval D. variabilis collected while questing were infected; and only 1 of 322 fleas (O. leucopus) removed from white-footed mice was infected. The fact that no unfed adult D. variabilis and only one flea were infected, in a situation where the probability of exposure of hematophagous ectoparasites is moderately high, suggests that this species of tick and the fleas examined are poor vectors for the Lyme disease spirochete."
PMID: 1941949

Also see:

Ticks, University of Florida
["not considered important vector of Lyme disease."]

Johns Hopkins Arthritis reports on Lyme Disease
[" little convincing epidemiologic data to suggest.. important vector of Lyme disease"]

Dermacentor variabilis NOT A COMPETENT VECTOR of Lyme disease.

TITLE:
Intrinsic competence of three ixodid ticks (Acari) as vectors of the Lyme disease spirochete.
AUTHORS:
Mather TN, Mather ME
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Tropical Public Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1990 Jul;27(4):646-50
"Larvae and nymphs of both I. dammini and D. variabilis were found infesting mice, but A. americanum never were found on this host. Furthermore, although larvae of all three tick species became infected by ingesting spirochetes while feeding on experimentally infected mice, only I. dammini remained infected following the transstadial molt. These findings suggest that of these three tick species, only I. dammini is competent as a vector of the Lyme disease spirochete."
PMID: 2388239

Also see:

Consensus Conference on Lyme Disease, Health Canada, 1991
["is not a competent vector for Lyme disease"]

Ticks and Lyme Disease, Lambton County, Ontario, Canada
["not an efficient transmitter of Lyme disease"]

Dermacentor variabilis NOT THOUGHT TO TRANSMIT Lyme disease.

Also see:

Protecting Yourself From Lyme Disease in Maine - 2000
["is NOT thought to transmit Lyme disease"]

Ticks in Maine, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Lyme Disease Research Laboratory
["is not thought to transmit Lyme disease."]

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (OSH) Answers: Lyme Disease
["does not appear to spread Lyme disease"]

Dermacentor variabilis NOT KNOWN TO TRANSMIT Lyme disease.

Also see:

Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Ohio
["not known to transmit Lyme Disease"]

TICKED OFF ABOUT LYME DISEASE, Indiana DOH
["unproven that [it] can successfully transmit the disease"]

CDC: NASD: Prevent Tick Bites: Prevent Lyme Disease, Sep 1992
["is not known to be involved in Lyme Disease transmission."]

Ticks and Disease, University of Kentucky
["has not been shown to transmit Lyme disease"]

Dermacentor variabilis DOES NOT TRANSMIT Lyme disease.

TITLE:
Evaluation of Ixodes scapularis, Amblyomma americanum, and Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae) from Georgia as vectors of a Florida strain of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi.
AUTHORS:
Sanders FH, Oliver JH
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro 30460-8056, USA.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1995 Jul;32(4):402-6
"...Dermacentor variabilis (Say) did not transmit the MI-6 isolate from inoculated hamsters to naive laboratory mice."
PMID: 7650697

TITLE:
Attempted transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetales: Spirochaetaceae) (JDI strain) by Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Dermacentor variabilis, and Amblyomma americanum.
AUTHORS:
Mukolwe SW, Kocan AA, Barker RW, Kocan KM, Murphy GL
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater 74078.
SOURCE:
J Med Entomol 1992 Jul;29(4):673-7
Laboratory-reared Ixodes scapularis Say, Amblyomma americanum (L.), and Dermacentor variabilis (Say) were fed on New Zealand white rabbits experimentally infected with Borrelia burgdorferi (JDI strain). At repletion, spirochetes could be detected by dark-field microscopy only in I. scapularis. Acquisition rates were 18 and 21%. When previously exposed nymphs of each species were fed on susceptible rabbits, I. scapularis was the only tick of the three species that transmitted B. burgdorferi. When a single rabbit was experimentally infected with B. burgdorferi and infested at 7-d intervals with I. scapularis, A. americanum, D. variabilis, and a second time with I. scapularis, B. burgdorferi was detected again only in cultures from the two groups of I. scapularis. When molted nymphs from each tick species were allowed to feed on susceptible rabbits, spirochetes again were isolated only at necropsy from the rabbits on which the two groups of I. scapularis fed.
PMID: 1495078

TITLE:
Experimental infection of the white-footed mouse with Borrelia burgdorferi.
AUTHORS:
Wright SD, Nielsen SW
AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
Department of Pathobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06268.
SOURCE:
Am J Vet Res 1990 Dec;51(12):1980-7
"In tick transmission studies, immature stages of Ixodes dammini and Dermacentor variabilis attached and fed to repletion on mice, but only I dammini transferred spirochetes to uninfected mice."
PMID: 2085225