NIH R01 · 2024
Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), transmitted via the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), is of growing public health importance as the etiologic agent of the most prevalent vector-borne disease in North America, Lyme disease (LD), which continues to increase in incidence. Although often framed as a pathogen in the Enzootic Transmission Cycle (ETC), there is no evidence that Bb elicits disease in either the reservoir or tick hosts between which it cycles. Here, we conceptualize Bb-infection in I. scapularis ticks as a facultative mutualism that is influenced by microbial dynamics within ticks and the broader context of ecological interactions between ticks and vertebrate hosts comprising the…
From the public funding record at NIH RePORTER. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.