---
attrs:
  .reference_type: 0
  Abstract: "The authors compared the contribution of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus), chipmunks (Tamias striatus), and meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) to infection of vector ticks with the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgddorferi. At one Massachusetts location where Lyme disease is endemic, all three species of rodents were found to be infected. Prevalence of infection, however, varied from 90% for mice, and 75% for chipmunks to just 5.5% for meadow voles. Infectivity of these hosts for larval Ixodes dammini also varied, but mice were found to be the most infective, followed by chipmunks and meadow voles. Density estimates of these three hosts, collected between 1981 and 1986 in three coastal Massachusetts locations, revealed that mice were more abundant than the other two rodents in areas in which ticks were abundant. In addition, mice were infested more abundantly with larval I. dammini than the other two host species. Integrating these results, we determined each species' \"reservoir potential,\" a novel term which describes the relative contribution made by a host species to the horizontal infection of a vector population. The authors' findings demonstrate that, at least in coastal Massachusetts, P. leucopus is the most important small mammal reservoir for B. burgdorferi."
  Author: 'Mather, T. N.; Wilson, M. L.; Moore, S. I.; Ribeiro, J. M.; Spielman, A.'
  Date: Jul
  ISSN: 1476-6256
  Issue: 1
  Journal: American Journal of Epidemiology
  Keywords: Animals; Borrelia; Borrelia Infections/*transmission; *Borrelia burgdorferi; Cross-Sectional Studies; *Disease Reservoirs; *Disease Vectors; Humans; Lyme Disease/*transmission; Massachusetts; Mice; *Rodentia
  Notes: "Mather, T N Wilson, M L Moore, S I Ribeiro, J M Spielman, A eng AI 19693/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ Comparative Study Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S. 1989/07/01 Am J Epidemiol. 1989 Jul;130(1):143-50."
  PMID: 2787105
  Pages: 143-150
  Title: Comparing the relative potential of rodents as reservoirs of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi)
  URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2787105
  Volume: 130
  Year: 1989
  _record_number: 18015
  _uuid: 5767e11f-0de8-4030-a669-703f8be8416a
  reftype: Journal Article
child_publication: /article/pmid-2787105
description: Comparing the relative potential of rodents as reservoirs of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi)
display_name: Comparing the relative potential of rodents as reservoirs of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi)
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publications:
  - /report/usgcrp-climate-human-health-assessment-2016/chapter/vectorborne-diseases
  - /report/usgcrp-climate-human-health-assessment-2016
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