Comparative analysis of the infectivity rate of both Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in humans and dogs in a New Jersey community

Ticks are important vectors of disease and transmit an extensive array of bacterial, viral and protozoan diseases to both humans and dogs within a community. Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, has been extensively studied within both the human and veterinary population. Anaplasma phagocytophilum, an intracellular rickettsial pathogen also transmitted by ixodid ticks, has emerged as an important zoonotic infection with significant veterinary and medical implications, and is responsible for both canine granulocytic anaplasmosis and human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Multiple surveys exist in the international literature referencing infectivity rates of both of these diseases separately in both the dog and human populations. This is the first study to simultaneously examine the infectivity rate of both anaplasmosis and Lyme disease in humans and dogs in a community endemic for tick-borne diseases.