Abstract. Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, and ehrlichiosis are tick-borne diseases that are reported annually in Kentucky. We conducted a survey to describe infection prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in Amblyomma americanum and Dermacentor variabilis ticks collected in Kentucky. During 2007-2008, we collected 287 ticks (179 D. variabilis and 108 A. americanum ) from canine, feral hog, horse, raccoon, white-tailed deer, and human hosts in six counties in Kentucky. Ticks were screened for Rickettsia spp., Borrelia spp., and Ehrlichia spp. by using polymerase chain reaction. Forty-one (14.3%) ticks (31 A. americanum and 10 D. variabilis ) were polymerase chain reaction-positive for a Rickettsia spp. Fourteen (4.9%) ticks (6 A. americanum and 8 D. variabilis ) were positive for E. chaffeensis , and 4 A. americanum (1.4%) were positive for E. ewingii . One (0.4%) A. americanum was positive for Borrelia lonestari .
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