ANTIBODIES TO SPIROCHETES IN WHITE-TAILED DEER AND PREVALENCE OF INFECTED TICKS FROM FOCI OF LYME DISEASE IN CONNECTICUT

Abstract
White-tailed deer (O. virginianus) were examined for the tick, Ixodes dammini; sera were analyzed for antibodies to spirochetes during 1982. Of the 323 animals inspected in 4 areas endemic for Lyme disease, 188 (58%) had adult ticks; parasitism ranged from 43% at Haddam to 82% at East Lyme. Direct and indirect fluorescent tests revealed antibodies at titers of 1:64-1:4,096 to this bacterium in 93 (28%) of the 332 sera assayed. There was a close correlation among the distribution of spirochete-infected I. dammini, deer with antibodies and human cases of Lyme disease.