Engaging Veterinary Public Health Partners in West Virginia's Tick Surveillance Efforts

BACKGROUND:  The distribution of tick vectors associated with human tickborne diseases in West Virginia (WV) is largely unknown.  In an effort to improve tick surveillance while engaging public health partners, the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health (WVBPH) launched the West Virginia Veterinary Tick Submission Project (WVVTSP) in 2013. Veterinarians across WV were invited to submit ticks from animal clients to the WVBPH for identification.

METHODS: In May 2013, invitations to participate in WVVTSP were mailed to 77 veterinary practices.  Participating veterinarians sent ticks from animals seen at their clinics to the public health entomologist for identification.  Information including the species of animal host, date of collection of tick specimen(s), travel history of animal host, and county of residence was collected on a required submission form.  After tick identification, the tick species and information from the submission form were entered in a database for analysis.  Feedback of tick identifications to veterinary practices occurred sporadically throughout the tick season. Data collected from WVVTSP was also disseminated to state health partners biweekly from late spring through fall.  

RESULTS: Twenty-seven (35.1%) of 77 invited veterinary practices across WV submitted tick specimens.  Five-hundred ninety-two ticks were collected and identified from 197 animals, including cats, dogs, humans, rabbits, and raccoons.  Five tick species were identified across the state: Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor variabilis, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, Ixodes cookei, and Ixodes scapularis.  Thirty (54.5%) of 55 WV counties were represented based on the home county of the animal on which the tick was found (in addition to one county in Maryland).  I. scapularis, the vector for anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Lyme disease, and Powassan encephalitis, was recorded for the first time in six counties in the northern part of WV and in one southern county. 

CONCLUSIONS: WVVTSP increased knowledge about the distribution of ticks associated with human tickborne diseases across WV.  Engaging veterinary partners in tick surveillance was simple and useful for mapping geographic locations of tick species in WV. During 2014, WVBPH expects to recruit more veterinary practices in WVVTSP and will add an interactive online map for easy display and feedback of data in an effort to expand tick surveillance to new areas across the state.