Meeting Abstract
Understanding ectoparasite communities, and the pathogens that species are exposed to is an important factor in host health and fitness, especially in a conservation setting. Here, we look to understand community composition of ectoparasites, how they affect host health, and what transmission is occurring in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Ectoparasite quantification was conducted on deer captured at Auburn University’s Deer Lab in Camp Hill, Alabama. In an effort to better understand community composition, and study ectoparasites and host animals as a whole, we employed sampling techniques that covered as much of a live caught animal as possible. Ticks (Ixodidae), lice (Anoplura, Mallophaga) and keds (Lipoptena cervi) were quantified for each animal. A methods comparison was performed to validate estimation methods on live caught animals and to ensure that there was no significant difference between methods for ticks (p=0.513), lice (p=0.523) and keds, (p=0.967). We also examined a new approach for quantifying ectoparasites using photography. This method was shown to be effective for keds (p=0.076), but not other parasite taxa. Blood samples were collected from each captured deer, and 27 of these samples were tested for ectoparasite-vectored pathogens including, Anaplasma spp., Erlichia spp., Borrelia spp., Rickettsia spp., Babesia spp., and Bartonella spp. Twenty-three tested positive for Anaplasma platys, most commonly found in canids and transmitted by the brown dog tick. The presence of A. platys in this controlled deer population may suggest overlap within the ectoparasite community that may come into contact with domestic or feral canids. This highlights the need to better understand transmission dynamics in ectoparasite communities and wildlife health.
