First report of the deer ked, Lipoptena cervi, and associated pathogens in southern Québec, Canada

Deer keds (Lipoptena cervi), an introduced European species, are expanding their geographic range in North America. We document their first recorded presence in Québec, Canada, map their distribution, and highlight the detection of pathogens of potential public health relevance. In the Estrie region of southern Québec, 47 deer keds (L. cervi) were collected from 14 (5.5%) of 254 harvested white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Borrelia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum were detected in the body of 1/44 and 8/44 L. cervi specimens, respectively. A statistically significant spatial cluster of white-tailed deer infested by L. cervi was found in southern Estrie using the Bernoulli-based spatial scan statistic.