Meeting Abstract

4.3  Sunday, Jan. 4  The impact of the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi on white-footed mice: implications for the ecology of Lyme disease SCHWANZ, Lisa E*; BRISSON, Dustin; GOMES-SOLECKI, Maria; OSTFELD, Richard S; Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies; University of Pennsylvania; New York Medical College; Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies schwanzl@ecostudies.org

Parasitic infection can have diverse direct and indirect effects on host phenotype. The implications of such effects are magnified for zoonotic diseases, where changes in an animal hosts immunocompetence and intra- or interspecific interactions lead to altered disease ecology and may cascade into altered risk of human disease. Lyme disease infects thousands of people in northeastern US every year and is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The bacterium is transmitted by blacklegged ticks that have fed on infected small mammals. In particular, white-footed mice are known to be important components of the disease ecology of B. burgdorferi. Using an oral vaccine against B. burgdorferi mixed with bait and placed in live-traps, we immunized three field populations of white-footed mice against the pathogen within a Lyme-disease-endemic zone. We examined the influence of B. burgdorferi on white-footed mouse immune function, pathogen diversity, activity levels, and foraging behavior. We discuss the results with respect to the evolutionary ecology of host response and the community ecology of disease.