Objective:
Identify, characterize, and develop surveillance techniques for new or resurgent arthropod-borne zoonotic pathogens affecting humans and domestic animals. Determine the threat of infectious disease caused by new or resurgent arthropod-borne zoonoses to humans and domestic animals. Determine the cause of emergence or resurgence of arthropod-borne zoonoses in relation to environmental change. Develop and test intervention methods for the control and prevention of arthropod-borne zoonoses.

Approach:
The cooperator will conduct, in appropriate locations in the Northeastern United States, research concerning the prevalence, emergence and control of arthropod-borne pathogens of human and domestic animals. The cooperators will study the transmission and prevalence of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis in nature. They will characterize new pathogens that have been recently discovered in Ixodes scapularis and determine their role in human disease. Studies will continue on the role of white-tailed deer as reservior hosts for arthropod-borne pathogens.