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10-Minute Presentation

Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology

10-min: MUVE, Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

Host-targeted delivery of an anti-tick vaccine targeting Ixodes scapularis : Challenges, gaps, and opportunities

Wednesday, November 12, 2025
1:42 PM - 1:54 PM Pacific
Location: Oregon Convention Center, B114, OCC
Oral Presentation
White-tailed deer (WTD; Odocoileus virginianus) are a primary reproductive host for Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged tick, which is a vector of numerous pathogens that can cause human disease, including Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and babesiosis. Controlling tick populations can help mitigate human disease risk. This research aimed to increase female mortality and decrease fecundity of I. scapularis by vaccinating deer with tick salivary proteins (TSPs). We tested a vaccine cocktail containing ten TSP antigens known to be protective against ticks feeding on rabbits. Three groups of WTD (n=4 per group) were inoculated with: 1) a low dose cocktail, 2) a high dose cocktail, or 3) adjuvant-only; no vaccine boosts were administered. Beginning three weeks post-inoculation, WTD were infested three times with 50 mated pairs of I. scapularis to determine the effects on tick feeding and reproductive parameters. Ticks feeding on vaccinated WTD had significantly higher mortality rates after the third infestation. Results for reproductive parameters were mixed; engorged female mass and percent larval hatch differed significantly by vaccine group, while no significant differences between vaccine groups were noted in bloodmeal conversion and egg mass. Significant effects on all reproductive parameters were evident after the third infestation. Significant interaction effects occurred between vaccine group and infestation occurrence for all reproductive parameters, except engorged mass. Antibody development varied, indicating differences in immunogenicity. In all groups, antigen-specific antibody development in WTD temporally correlated with subsequent tick infestations, indicating the potential for ‘natural boosting’ of immune response with increased subsequent tick exposure.