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(Ixodes cookei)
The Woodchuck Tick is primarily found in the Eastern and Central
United States as well as Eastern Canada. Larvae, nymphs and adults will feed on a variety of
warm-blooded hosts, including skunks, squirrels, raccoons, fox,
weasels, mink and occasionally people. The Woodchuck Tick is implicated in the
transmission of Powassan virus,
especially in Ontario, Canada, where it is the vector in a natural
cycle of virus transmission involving woodchucks (groundhogs) and ticks.
Strains of Powassan virus were also
recovered from Woodchuck Ticks and their groundhog hosts in New
York.
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© 2002, Richard Ostfeld, Ph.D.
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