Volume 6, Number 2—April 2000
Research
Competence of American Robins as Reservoir Hosts for Lyme Disease Spirochetes
Dania Richter*†
, Andrew Spielman*, Nicholas Komar*, and Franz-Rainer Matuschka*†
, Andrew Spielman*, Nicholas Komar*, and Franz-Rainer Matuschka*†Table 1
Infectivity to larval deer ticks of four American robins infected with tickborne Lyme disease spirochetes
| Xenodiagnostic ticks | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Days from exposure until xenodiagnosisa | No.examined | %infected | ± SEb |
| 0-5 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 6-9 | 28 | 28.6 | 16.5 |
| 12-15 | 52 | 84.6 | 7.0 |
| 20-23 | 78 | 85.9 | 6.0 |
| 28-30 | 62 | 91.9 | 6.7 |
| 39-41 | 50 | 68.0 | 20.3 |
| 79-82 | 65 | 13.8 | 10.2 |
| 189-191c | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 199-201 | 80 | 75.0 | 15.2 |
aEach interval indicates the days on which xenodiagnostic ticks detached from their hosts.
bSE = standard error
cBirds were exposed again to infected nymphal ticks on day 186.
