Prevalence and Strains of Colorado Tick Fever Virus in Rocky Mountain Wood Ticks in the Bitterroot Valley, Montana.

ABSTRACT: The Rocky Mountain wood tick, Dermacentor andersoni, has long been known to transmit human pathogens. Within the Bitterroot Valley, Ravalli County, Montana, these agents include Rickettsia rickettsii, Francisella tularensis, and Colorado tick fever virus (CTFV). Found in the western United States where wood ticks occur, CTFV causes a biphasic, febrile illness in humans and persists in enzootic cycles involving the ticks and small mammals. CTFV belongs to the genus Coltivirus, family Reoviridae, whose genome consists of 12 double-stranded RNA segments. Previous studies revealed the presence of CTFV-infected ticks and rodents in select locations within the valley in the 1960s and 1970s, using animal and cell culture methods for detection. We aimed to determ

SUBMITTER: Williamson BN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6716194 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature