First isolation of Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, from blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, removed from a bird in nova Scotia, Canada.
The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, has been isolated from a blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, removed from a songbird in Canada. On 28 May 1999, this engorged blacklegged tick nymph was removed from a common yellowthroat, Geothlypis trichas, collected during bird banding on Bon Portage Island, Nova Scotia.
The Atlantic Bird Observatory participated in collecting attached ticks from passerine birds banded on Seal Island and Bon Portage Island off the southwest tip of Nova Scotia. During spring migration, 21 ticks were collected from 12 individual birds (4 species) from 14 to 29 May 1999. These immature (larva, nymph) ticks on birds included the rabbit tick, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris, and I. scapularis (Table 1).