51. Community Ecology
Community Interactions
Problem 12a
Textbook Question
Textbook QuestionLyme disease is caused by infections of the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (stained blue in inset, among red blood cells) which is transferred to humans via blood-sucking bites from the tick, Ixodes scapularis. Lyme disease can cause flu-like symptoms in the short term and more serious illnesses in the long term, if not treated. Why is Lyme disease on the rise in eastern North America? Newly hatched ticks do not harbor B. burgdorferi. Rather, they pick it up from certain hosts that are reservoirs of the bacterium. When a larval tick crawls onto a host, it may get groomed off and killed by the host, or it may feed successfully, in which case it may or may not then become infected with B. burgdorferi. Felicia Keesing and others measured the rate of tick feeding and infection on different hosts. What percentage of ticks on mice were infected with B. burgdorferi? What percentage of ticks on opossums were groomed off and killed?
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