How to translate text using browser tools
16 March 2022 Designing an Intervention Trial of Human-Tick Encounters and Tick-Borne Diseases in Residential Settings Using 4-Poster Devices to Control Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae): Challenges for Site Selection and Device Placement
Neeta P. Connally, Adam Rowe, Alison Kaufman, James I. Meek, Sara A. Niesobecki, Amberjean P. Hansen, Jennifer White, Courtney Nawrocki, Erik Foster, Alison F. Hinckley, Lars Eisen
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis Say, transmit Lyme disease spirochetes and other human pathogens in the eastern United States. White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are key reproductive hosts for I. scapularis adults, and therefore control methods targeting deer have the potential for landscape-wide tick suppression. A topical acaricide product, containing 10% permethrin, is self-applied by deer to kill parasitizing ticks when they visit 4-Poster Tick Control Deer Feeders (hereafter, 4-Posters) Previous 4-Poster intervention studies, including in residential settings, demonstrated suppression of I. scapularis populations but did not include human-based outcomes. To prepare for a proposed 4-Poster intervention trial in residential areas of Connecticut and New York that would include human-tick encounters and tick-borne diseases as outcomes, we sought to identify areas (study clusters) in the 80–100 ha size range and specific locations within these areas where 4-Poster devices could be deployed at adequate density (1 device per 20–25 ha) and in accordance with regulatory requirements. Geographic Information System-based data were used to identify prospective study clusters, based on minimum thresholds for Lyme disease incidence, population density, and forest cover. Ground truthing of potential 4-Poster placement locations was done to confirm the suitability of selected clusters. Based on these efforts, we failed to identify more than a few residential areas fulfilling all criteria for a treatment cluster. We, therefore, reconsidered pursuing the intervention trial, which required inclusion of >30 treatment clusters to achieve adequate statistical power. The 4-Poster methodology may be more readily evaluated in natural or public areas than in residential settings in NY or CT.

© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Neeta P. Connally, Adam Rowe, Alison Kaufman, James I. Meek, Sara A. Niesobecki, Amberjean P. Hansen, Jennifer White, Courtney Nawrocki, Erik Foster, Alison F. Hinckley, and Lars Eisen "Designing an Intervention Trial of Human-Tick Encounters and Tick-Borne Diseases in Residential Settings Using 4-Poster Devices to Control Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae): Challenges for Site Selection and Device Placement," Journal of Medical Entomology 59(3), 911-921, (16 March 2022). https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjac027
Received: 28 September 2021; Accepted: 8 February 2022; Published: 16 March 2022
JOURNAL ARTICLE
11 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
4-poster device
Ixodes scapularis
Lyme disease
topical acaricide
white-tailed deer
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top