DOD Efforts in Tick Surveillance and 

Preventing Tick-Borne Disease in 

the US

Ellen Stromdahl

Entomological Science Program

U.S. Army Public Health Command

UNCLASSIFIED
Tick-borne Disease is an 

Occupational Health Risk for Military Personnel

Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 2
Deer on Military Installations

Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 3
Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 4

• Tick and Tick-Borne Disease 

Surveillance 

• Tick Taxonomy / Imaging

• Tick Repellents 
Ticks are collected by a variety of methods

Tick Drag, CO2 trap

Small, medium, large mammals

SAMPLE INFORMATION TEST ORGANISM

Coll’n

method

Sample 

type

Bb

#/D/%D

Ec

#/D/%D

Ee

#/D/%D

Ap

#/D/%D

Babesia

#/D/%D

Rickettsia

#/D/%D

Drag A. americanum Nonvector82/1/1% 82/4/5% Non-vector Non-vector 82/0/0%

Drag D. variabilis NonvectorNonvectorNonvectorNon-vector Non-vector 33/0/0%

Drag I. scapularis 1/0/0% NonvectorNonvector1/0/0% 1/0/0% Non-vector

Drag A. maculatum NonvectorNonvectorNonvectorNon-vector Non-vector 2/1/50%1

Coyote A. maculatum NonvectorNonvectorNonvectorNon-vector Non-vector 2/1/50%1

Drag I. affinis2 3/1/33% NonvectorNonvector3/0/0% 3/2/67%3 Non-vector

1 Rickettsia parkerii positive causative agent of Tidewater Fever

2 5 collected 3 tested 2 submitted to US National Tick Collection as voucher

3 Babesia canis

PHC Region-North
Threatmap with 

Proposed Tick Control

Laboratory identification and PCR analysis during the 

Jamboree to determine the infection rate of ticks

TICK INFORMATION TEST RESULTS

TICK ID # TICKS

TESTED

HME

#D (%D)

EE

#D (%D)

Rr

#D (%D)

Ap

#D (%D)

LD

#D (%D)

Babesia

#D (%D)

A. americanum 1241 3 (2%) 7 (6%) Non-vector Non-vector Non-vector Non-vector

D. variabilis 1612 Non-vector Non-vector 0 (0%) Non-vector Non-vector Non-vector

I. scapularis 3 Non-vector Non-vector Non-vector 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)

TOTAL 288

Scouts’ ticks tested at the Jamboree

PHC Region-North
DOD Human 

Tick Test Kit Program

Clinical support for health 

care providers and their

tick-bite patients

Tick I.D. and analysis

• Lyme disease

• Human granulocytic 

anaplasmosis

• Babesiosis

• Human monocytic ehrlichiosis

• Ewingii ehrlichiosis

• R. parkeri rickettsiosis

• Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 9
Locations of Tick Test Kit Program Participants

Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 10
Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 11
Publications – ticks and tick-borne pathogens

• Sardelis MR, Neidhardt K, Perich MJ, Milstrey EG, Harlan HJ, Boobar LR. Reduction of the Amblyomma americanum (acari:Ixodidae) population at 

Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia by aerial application of diazinon granules: correlation of percentage control with received dose. J Med Entomol. 1989 26:494.

• Evans SR, Korch GW Jr, Lawson MA. Comparative field evaluation of permethrin and deet-treated military uniforms for personal protection against 

ticks (Acari). J Med Entomol. 1990 27:829-34.

• Kardatzke, JT, Neidhardt, K, Dzuban, DP Sanchez, JL,et al. Cluster of tick-borne infections at Fort Chaffee, AR: rickettsiae and Borrelia burgdorferi

in Ixodid ticks. J Med Entomol 1992; 29:669–72. 

• Amerasinghe FP, Breisch NL, Azad AF, Gimpel WF, Greco M, Neidhardt K, Pagac B, Piesman J, Sandt J, Scott TW, et al. Distribution, density, and 

Lyme disease spirochete infection in Ixodes dammini (Acari:Ixodidae) on white-tailed deer in Maryland. J Med Entomol. 1992 29:54-61.

• Solberg VB, Neidhardt K, Sardelis MR, Hildebrandt C, Hoffmann FJ, Boobar LR. Quantitative evaluation of sampling methods for Ixodes dammini

and Amblyomma americanum (Acari:Ixodidae) . J Med Entomol. 1992 29:451-6.

• Solberg VB, Neidhardt K, Sardelis MR, Hoffmann FJ, Stevenson R, Boobar LR, Harlan HJ. Field evaluation of two formulations of cyfluthrin for 

control of Ixodes dammini and Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae). J Med Entomol. 1992 29:634-8. 

• Amerasinghe FP, Breisch NL, Neidhardt K, Pagac B, Scott TW. Increasing density and Borrelia burgdorferi infection of deer-infesting Ixodes 

dammini (Acari: Ixodidae) in Maryland. J Med Entomol. 1993 30:858-64.

• Stromdahl, EY, Randolph, MP, O'Brien, JJ, Gutierrez, AG.. Ehrlichia chaffeensis (Rickettsiales: Ehrlichieae) infection in Amblyomma americanum

(Acari: Ixodidae) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. J Med Entomol 2000 37:349-356.

• Stromdahl, EY, Evans, SR, O'Brien, JJ, Gutierrez, AG. Prevalence of infection in ticks submitted to the human tick test kit program of the U.S. Army 

Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. J Med Entomol 2001; 38:67-74.

• Stromdahl, EY, Williamson, PC, Kollars, TM Jr, Evans, SR, et al. Evidence of Borrelia lonestari DNA in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) 

removed from humans. J Clin Microbiol 2003; 41:5557-5562. 

• Sumner, JW, Durden, LA, Goddard, J, Stromdahl, EY, Clark, KL, Reeves, WK and Paddock, CD. A survey of gulf coast ticks (Amblyomma 

maculatum) for Rickettsia parkeri in the United States. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007 13:751-3

• Loftis, AD, Mixson, TR, Stromdahl , EY, Yabsley, M J, Garrison, LE, Williamson, PC, Fitak, R R, Fuerst, PA and Blount K.B. Geographic distribution 

and genetic diversity of the Ehrlichia sp. from Panola Mountain. BMC Infect Dis 2008; 8:54

• Stromdahl, EY, Vince, MA, Billingsley, PM, Dobbs, NA, et al. Rickettsia amblyommii infecting Amblyomma americanum larvae. Vector Borne 

Zoonotic Dis 2008; 8: 15-24.

• Jiang, J, Yarina, T Melissa K. Miller, Ellen Y. Stromdahl, Allen L. Richards. Molecular detection of Rickettsia amblyommii in Amblyomma 

americanum parasitizing humans. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 10:329-40.

• Ellen Y. Stromdahl, Ju Jiang, Mary Vince and Allen L. Richards. Infrequency of Rickettsia rickettsii in Dermacentor variabilis Removed from 

Humans. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

• Eremeeva, ME, Stromdahl, EY. New spotted fever group Rickettsia in a Rhipicephalus turanicus tick removed from a child in eastern Sicily, Italy. 

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 84:99-101
Field-portable macro imaging device for arthropod identification

http://phc.amedd.army.mil/PHC%20Resource%20Library/MacroimagingPortfolio.pdf
TickMap

• www.tickmap.org

•Downloadable collection form

•>50,000 records

•New website (requires Silverlight): www.vectormap.org
Relate vector distribution to collection records

How to contribute collection records 

Collection forms

Excel Mapper
www.afhsc.mil/msmr
Defense Medical Epidemiology 

Database: 

http://www.afhsc.mil/aboutDmed
1,330,000

1,340,000

1,350,000

1,360,000

1,370,000

1,380,000

1,390,000

1,400,000

1,410,000

1,420,000

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

2000200120022003200420052006200720082009

Number of trrops by year

Number of cases (not population adjusted)

Reported cases of various vector-borne diseases in the military 

2000-2009 (source AFHSC's DMED website)

Malaria (hospital)

All arthropod-borne diseases

Leishmaniasis (ambulatory)

Arboviruses (hospitalized)

Troop population
DEVELOPMENT OF MOLECULAR ASSAYS FOR 

DETECTING TICK-BORNE PATHOGENS
qPCR assays for detection of Rickettsia in ticks 

Rickettsia genus assay-Rick17b

tick-borne spotted fever group assay-Trick

species specific assays: 

R. rickettsii-Rrick

R.parkeri-Rpark

Candidatus R. andeanae-Rande

R.felis-Rfelis

R. montanensis -Rmont

R.amblyommii-Rambl

R.conorii-Rcono

R.africa-Rafri

R.raoultii-Rraou

R.slovaca-Rslov

R.aeschlimannii-Raesc

qPCR assays avalible for detection of other 

tick-borne pathogens

Borrelia lonestari

Borrelia burgdorferi 

Ehrlichia chaffeensis

E. canis

Anaplasma phagocytophilum

Coxiella burnetii

qPCR assays avalible for identification of tick 

species

Amblyomma americanum

Dermacentor variabilis

Ixodes scapularis

Ixodes pacificus

Quantitative real-time PCR(qPCR) assays

Multilocus Sequencing Typing (MLST)

Primers are designed to amplify the well known genes for characterization of Rickettsia : 16s 

rRNA gene, 17 kDa antigen gene, gltA, ompA,ompB, and sca4
• Stromdahl EY, Jiang J, Vince M, Richards AL. Infrequency of Rickettsia rickettsii in Dermacentor variabilis

removed from humans, with comments on the role of other human-biting ticks associated with spotted fever 

group rickettsiae in the United States. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 (Epub ahead of print)

• Smith MP, Ponnusamy L, Jiang J, Ayyash LA, Richards AL, Apperson CS. Bacterial pathogens in ixodid

ticks from a Piedmont County in North Carolina: prevalence of rickettsial organisms. Vector Borne Zoonotic 

Dis. 2010 Dec;10(10):939-52

• Jiang J, Yarina T, Miller MK, Stromdahl EY, Richards AL. Molecular Detection of Rickettsia amblyommii in 

Amblyomma americanum Parasitizing Humans. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2010 May;10(4):329-40. 

• Whitman TJ, Richards AL, Paddock CD, Tamminga CL, Sniezek PJ, Jiang J, Byers DK, Sanders JW. 

Rickettsia parkeri infection after tick bite, Virginia. Emerg Infect Dis 2007;13(2):334-6.

• Wright CL, Nadolny RM, Jiang J, Richards AL, Sonenshine DE, Gaff HD, Hynes WL. R. parkeri found in A. 

maculatum from VA. Emerg Infect Dis 2011

• Jiang J, Stromdahl EY, Richards AL. Detection of Rickettsia parkeri and Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae in 

Amblyomma maculatum Gulf Coast Ticks Collected from Humans in the United States. Vector Borne 

Zoonotic Dis (submitted)

• Rozmajzl PJ, Flyer JG, Jiang J, Stromdahl EY, and Richards AL. Development of a Quantitative Real-time 

Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) Assay for the Detection of Rickettsia montanensis Validated with 

Dermacentor variabilis Collected from Humans. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 (submitted)

• Truong M, Jiang J; Yarina T, Evans H, Turner J, Miller M, Christensen TP, Richards AL. Rickettsia parkeri 

and Ehrlichia chaffeensis Detected in Ixodidae Ticks from Fort Eustis, Virginia. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2011 

(submitted)

Publications - detection of tick-borne pathogens
Prevalence and Clinical Characteristics of 

Infection Caused by the Newly Emerging 

Pathogen, Rickettsia parkeri, in Adults 

and Children Presenting to Clinics and 

Emergency Departments with Acute 

Febrile Illness.

Todd Myers, PhD

Naval Medical Research Center

Silver Spring MD
TICK TESTING & 

HUMAN DIAGNOSTICS

+
LITERATURE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM

ARMED FORCES

PEST MANAGEMENT BOARD

www.afpmb.org

DVD ON TICK IDENTIFICATION
IMAGE LIBRARY

Dr. Henry Hoogstraal

ARMED FORCES

PEST MANAGEMENT BOARD

www.afpmb.org
DoD Insect Repellent System

DoD 

Insect 

Repellent 

System

=
0.5% PERMETHRIN Aerosol Spray Can

Military Commercial NSN 6840-01-278-1336 

Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory UNCLASSIFIED 29
PERMETHRIN Impregnation (IDA) Kit

NSN 6840-01-345-0237 
PERMETHRIN Application using 2-Gallon Sprayer

USDA ARS CMAVE has developed a test procedure to ensure military uniforms are 

correctly treated to protect troops from arthropod bites.

Deployed War-Fighter Protection (DWFP) is a 

DOD-sponsored research program administered 

by the Armed Forces Pest Management Board

(AFPMB).

Permethrin Factory-Treated Flame Resistant

Army Combat Uniforms (FRACU-P)
Permethrin Factory-Treated Flame Resistant

MultiCam Uniforms (Afghanistan)
U.S. Army Public Health Command

Ellen Stromdahl

Tick-Borne Disease Laboratory 

The views expressed in this article are those of 

the author and do not reflect the official policy or 

position of the Department of the Army, 

Department of Defense or the U.S. Government. 

UNCLASSIFIED 37