Deer as Reservoirs? For years, we've been told that deer only play a role in maintaining tick populations & moving infected ticks from one area to another and that deer don't serve as reservoirs for Lyme disease bacteria. But, is this true? Georgia Southern's Dr. Jim Oliver & colleagues performed an interesting lab experiment in 1992; they proved that ticks can become infected by feeding upon Bb-inoculated white-tailed deer. How often this may occur in nature remains unclear. Research is still needed.
Dr. Oliver's research abstract may be found here:
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(Photo courtesy of Texas A&M's The Tick App for Texas and Southern Region.)
