Ixodes Dammini (Acari: Ixodidae) in Maryland, USA, and a Preliminary Survey for Babesia Microti1

In 1980–1981, immature and adult ticks generally conforming to published descriptions of Ixodes dammini were found within the Maryland section of Assateague Island. Previously this tick, the principal vector of human babesiosis and Lyme disease, had not been identified south of New Jersey. Adult specimens also were collected at other localities in eastern Maryland. Peromyscus leucopus was host to immature I. dammini and Dermacentor variabilis. Adult D. variabilis and Amblyomma americanum were taken at CO2 trapping sites and by flagging on the island. No direct evidence of Babesia microti was detected in tick or mouse populations. However, indirect fluorescent antibody tests performed on P. leucopus sera indicated a possibility of previous natural mouse exposure to this hemoparasite.