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Funded Project

Funding Program: IPM Partnership Grants

Project Title: Trial of a Novel, Pasture-Safe, Botanical Compound to Control Lyme Disease Vector Ticks

Project Director (PD): Peter W. Rand [1]

Lead State: ME Lead Organization: Maine Medical Center

Undesignated Funding: $7,785

Start Date: Jul-01-2008 End Date: Jun-30-2009

Pests Involved: ticks

Site/Commodity: community

Area of Emphasis: public health

Summary: We propose to conduct a pilot study to compare the effectiveness of two sprayed pesticides: one a relatively safe compound composed of food quality rosemary oil suitable for use in the problematic circumstance of pastures for horses and other grazing animals; the other a synthetic compound, though not labeled for use in pastures, is approved for use by homeowners and commercial applicators to control deer ticks. Objectives: To conduct a pilot study to compare the acaricidal effectiveness of a minimum-risk botanical compound with that of a commonly-used synthetic pyrethroid against deer ticks, vectors of Lyme disease and at least three other diseases in the northeastern United States. Proposal

Final Report:

Outcomes Peak nymphal season experiment: Post-spray, during the remainder of the nymphal season, there were significantly more nymphs/hr in the Reference grid than in either the IC2 or the bifenthrin grids (0 nymphs/hr in each, P < 0.05, Table 1). During the larval season, Reference larvae/hr > IC2 > bifenthrin (all P < 0.05). During the 2008 fall adult season, Reference adults/hr > IC2 = bifenthrin, and during the 2009 spring adult season, Reference > IC2 > bifenthrin (P < 0.05, Table 1). These results are consistent with all three hypotheses associated with the nymphal spray. Although larval numbers were less in the spray grids, substantial numbers were found. Future work should evaluate the impact of sprays on the development of larvae and eggs. The few adult ticks collected in the fall and the following spring could have resulted from nymphs not killed by the initial spray or nymphs carried into the grids by mice or birds after the spray date. Peak adult season experiment: Pre-spray adults/hr did not differ on the Reference, IC2, and bifenthrin grids (all P > 0.05, Table 2). Also, pre- and post-spray Reference adults/hr did not differ (all P > 0.05). Post-spray, Reference adults/hr > IC2 = bifenthrin. During the subsequent spring 2009 adult season Reference adults/hr > IC2 > bifenthrin (Table 2). Total knockdown for both IC2 and bifenthrin during the fall adult season, and total knockdown for bifenthrin and near total knockdown for IC2 during the spring adult season are illustrated in Figure 1. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that there would be fewer adults/hr on grids treated with either acaracide relative to the Reference grid postspray.

Impacts This pilot study has demonstrated that IC2, a food-grade, commercially available, minimal risk pesticide whose principal ingredient is Rosemary oil, is almost as effective as a synthetic acaricide in reducing the abundance of both nymphal and adult deer ticks to zero. While this botanical compound may not have the residual effect that synthetic pyrethroids such as bifenthrin do, this feature offers an alternative, environmentally friendly approach to controlling ticks -- on pastures where animals can be allowed to graze shortly after application, for organic farmers, and on the properties of homeowners concerned about the potential environmental damage of synthetic acaricides. More immediately, these data have supported a successful application for a Northeastern IPM Partnership Grant for an extended study of IC2, to include its impact, relative to bifenthrin, on non-target organisms (including honey bees, critical to wild blueberry production in Maine). This two-year project is currently underway, and enjoys collaboration with biologists from both the University of Maine (Dr. Constance Stubbs) and the University of Southern Maine (Dr. Joseph Staples). The project this Minigrant has supported will be the subject of a sort communication to be submitted to an appropriate refereed scientific journal. A more comprehensive paper will report on our larger, continuing, study, now underway, which is corroborating the findings reported here. Lyme disease in humans as well as in companion animals and horses is increasing almost exponentially in Maine. Serosurveys we have recently conducted in Maine have demonstrated significant transmission of the agent of another emerging tick-borne disease, anaplasmosis, in both dogs and horses in Maine, particularly in southern counties. Dogs in Cape Elizabeth (Cumberland County) were 76% seropositive, while one-third of horses in Cumberland and York Counties (n=160) had antibodies. Anaplasmosis can be fatal in humans and horses, and treatment for Lyme disease and anaplasmosis in large animals can be very expensive. The availability of an effective, minimum risk acaricide will greatly enhance IPM programs to reduce the risk of these diseases.

Report Appendices Final Report 2009 [PDF]

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