Incriminating vectors of deer malaria (Plasmodium odocoilei) at a Florida deer farm.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Plasmodium odocoilei, the only nonhuman Plasmodium parasite of native mammals in North America, infects white-tailed deer (WTD) throughout the eastern USA. Although deer malaria is not a significant cause of disease in healthy deer, infection with P. odocoilei may increase susceptibility to infection with and mortality due to epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus in deer fawns. The incrimination of the vector(s) of deer malaria is an essential step in developing management plans for reducing the incidence of deer malaria.

Methods

At a deer farm in Gadsden County, FL, with previously documented evidence of deer malaria transmission, mosquitoes were collected using carbon-dioxide-baited light traps, aspirators, and resting shelters. White-tailed deer host use and P. o

SUBMITTER: Rockwell M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12305987 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature