Understanding Host-Tick-Pathogen Interactions through Animal Models

Dear Colleagues,

When we use animal models to ask questions about tick-borne diseases in humans, we are faced with the challenge of finding an appropriate surrogate for the human—a model species that demonstrates clinical disease and a shared biological response with humans. Scientists have used a wide variety of animal species as models for understanding interactions between the vertebrate, tick vector, and tick-borne pathogen for over a century.

For this Special Issue, we are inviting original research utilizing an animal model for studying mechanisms of tick-borne disease, emphasizing studies that use natural tick transmission. Studies with non-murine models are particularly solicited, with the choice of model (murine or non-murine) clearly justified in the manuscript. Tick-borne pathogens range from bacteria (e.g., Borrelia, spotted fever group Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma) to apicomplexan protozoa such as Babesia and viruses such as Heartland and Powassan. Short communications, methods papers formatted as original research or short communications, and reviews will also be considered.

Dr. Andrea Varela-Stokes
John Stokes
Guest Editors

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