Graham J. Hickling, director of the University of Tennessee’s Center for Wildlife Health and associate director of NIMBios, recently received a National Science Foundation Emerging Infectious Disease award for his research on Lyme disease. His study, in collaboration with researchers at several other universities (total amount for all collaborators: $2.5 million), will compare ecological factors that might affect Lyme disease prevalence in the eastern United States. This project contributes to his current research program on the ecology and management of tick-borne diseases. Hickling is studying several of the serious tick-vectored diseases in Tennessee, including ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and Southern tick associated rash illness. He has also studied the ecology of bovine tuberculosis and other wildlife diseases that afflict humans.
Selected Publications
Scott MC, Rosen ME, Hamer SA, Baker E, Edwards H, Crowder C, Tsao JI and Hickling G J. 2010. High-prevalence Borrelia miyamotoi Infection among wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in Tennessee. Journal of Medical Entomology (forthcoming).
Fenichel EP, Horan RD, and Hickling GJ. 2010. Management of infectious wildlife diseases: bridging conventional and bioeconomic approaches. Ecological Applications, Vol. 20(4): 903-14.
Hamer SA, Tsao JI, Walker ED, and Hickling GJ. 2010. Invasion of the Lyme disease vector Ixodes scapularis: Implications for Borrelia burgdorferi endemicity. EcoHealth, DOI: 10.1007/s10393-010-0287-0 (online publication date: March 13, 2010).
Winters AM, Rumbeiha WK, Winterstein SR, Fine AE, Munkhtsog B, and Hickling GJ. 2010. Residues in Brandt’s voles (Microtus brandti) exposed to bromadiolone-impregnated baits in Mongolia. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, Vol. 73(5): 1071-1077.
Hamer SA, Tsao JI, Walker ED, Mansfield LS, Foster ES, and Hickling GJ. 2009. Use of tick surveys and serosurveys to evaluate pet dogs as a sentinel species for emerging Lyme disease. American Journal of Veterinary Research, Vol. 70(1): 49-56.
Fenichel EP, Tsao JI, Jones M, and Hickling GJ. 2008. Fish pathogen screening and its influence on the likelihood of accidental pathogen introduction during fish translocations. Journal of Aquatic Animal Health, Vol. 20(1): 19-28.
O’Brien DJ, Schmitt SM, Fitzgerald SD, Berry DE, and Hickling GJ. 2006. Managing the wildlife reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis: the Michigan, USA, experience. Veterinary Microbiology, Vol. 112(2-4): 313-23.
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