Researchers with the Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases published a tick-borne disease study in the Journal of Infectious Diseases using samples from soldiers stationed at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. In collaboration with the Gillings School of Global Public Health, Womack Army Medical Center and the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, the team obtained samples from the Department of Defense Serum Repository from soldiers at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, between 1991 and 2019. They assessed temporal trends in tick-borne rickettsiosis and ehrlichiosis. Serological evidence of infection was common, with nearly 1 in 5 (18.9%) demonstrating antibodies. They also observed significant decreases in Rickettsia seroprevalence (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.42 [95% CI, .27–.65], P = .0001) while over the same period Ehrlichia seroprevalence, albeit less common, nearly doubled (aOR, 3.61 [95% CI, 1.10–13.99], P = .048). The results indicate the geographic range of the lone star tick is expanding.
The study included Ross Boyce, Emmanuel M Rockwell, Haley Abernathy, Lanya Evans, Ryan Bhowmik, Dana Giandomenico, Johanna Salzer, Carlos Maldonado and Y. Sammy Choi. The abstract can be accessed here.