Active surveillance of pathogens from ticks collected in New York State suburban parks and schoolyards.

Schoolyards and suburban parks are two environments where active tick surveillance may inform local management approaches. Even in a state such as New York with a robust active tick surveillance programme operated by the state Department of Health, these settings are not routinely covered. The goal of this study was to highlight the importance of active surveillance for tick-borne pathogens by describing their prevalence in ticks collected from schoolyards and suburban parks and to guide the use of integrated pest management in these settings. Tick dragging was performed in three regions of New York State: Long Island, the Lower Hudson Valley and the Capital Region. A total of 19 schoolyards and 32 parks were sampled. The location, habitat and weather at the time of tick collection were recorded. Ticks were speciated and tested for the presence of 17 pathogens with a novel application of nanoscale real-time PCR. The causative agents of Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Powassan virus disease were all detected from Ixodes scapularis in various sites throughout the capital region and south-eastern counties of New York state. The most common agent detected was Borrelia burgdorferi, and coinfection rates were as high as 36%. This surveillance study also captured the first of the invasive Asian longhorned tick species, Haemaphysalis longicornis, in New York state (collected 2 June 2017). Results from this study highlight the importance of collaborative efforts and data sharing for improvement of surveillance for tick-borne disease agents.

Management of Phytophthora Crown Rot in Pumpkin and Zucchini Seedlings with Phosphonates.

Experiments were conducted in the greenhouse to determine the efficacy of two phosphonate-containing fungicides (FNX-100 and FNX-2500) against Phytophthora crown rot of pumpkin. The experiments were designed to determine the effects of crop cultivar, application method (soil drench versus foliar spray), and phosphonate concentration on the level of effectiveness of a crown rot management strategy using phosphonates. Pumpkin cultivar, treatment (type of fungicide product), phosphonate concentration, and application method significantly influenced the level of Phytophthora crown rot control. Between the two fungicides, only FNX-100 suppressed Phytophthora crown rot in pumpkin. For cv. Phantom, the highest level of control was achieved with the drench application of 3.0% FNX-100 whereas, for cv. Spooktacular, all three concentrations of FNX-100 (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0%, vol/vol) applied as a soil drench suppressed or significantly reduced the severity of crown rot. Additional experiments using zucchini as test plants demonstrated that, at the concentrations tested, FNX-100 was more efficacious than FNX-2500 in controlling Phytophthora crown rot and that zucchini cultivar or FNX-100 concentration did not significantly influence crown rot control with phosphonates. In this study, FNX-100, which is not currently labeled for use in vegetables, provided satisfactory disease control in both pumpkin and zucchini whereas FNX-2500, a foliar fungicide comprised of the phosphate/phosphonates and copper, manganese, and zinc, did not significantly affect disease severity. This study, albeit limited in scope, showed that cultivar selection may play an important role in the successful management of Phytophthora crown rot on cucurbits with phosphonates, information which may be useful in designing additional tests and developing management strategies for pumpkin and zucchini that are grown in the field.