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Case #268 – January, 2010

A woman residing in the eastern United States brought to her doctor a tick, which she claimed was removed from her husband after he had spent the weekend doing yard work. The tick was sent to the State Entomologist for identification. Figure A shows the tick. Figure B shows a close-up of the mouthparts. Figure C shows a close-up of one of the spiracular plates. What is your diagnosis? Based on what criteria? Also, what is the public health importance, if any, of this genus in North America?

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Images from this case were kindly provided by Tom Murray, Massachusetts.

Images presented in the DPDx case studies are from specimens submitted for diagnosis or archiving. On rare occasions, clinical histories given may be partly fictitious.

DPDx is an educational resource designed for health professionals and laboratory scientists. For an overview including prevention, control, and treatment visit www.cdc.gov/parasites/.