{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"institution":[{"name":"bioRxiv"}],"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:40:35Z","timestamp":1785404435788,"version":"3.56.0"},"posted":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]]},"group-title":"Microbiology","reference-count":51,"publisher":"openRxiv","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]],"date-time":"2026-04-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776816000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"award":["R01AI139267"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01AI139267"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/001d55x84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["R01AI175417"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01AI175417"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/001d55x84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["R44AI167605"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R44AI167605"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/001d55x84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,22]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                <jats:p>\n                  Lyme disease, caused by\n                  <jats:italic>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                  and transmitted by\n                  <jats:italic>Ixodes scapularis<\/jats:italic>\n                  ticks, remains a significant vector-borne illness in the United States. Small mammal reservoirs, particularly\n                  <jats:italic>Peromyscus leucopus<\/jats:italic>\n                  , play a critical role in\n                  <jats:italic>B. burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                  maintenance. Here we conducted a five-year, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled field trial deploying an oral OspA-based reservoir targeted vaccine (RTV) across seven Maryland sites. Bayesian modeling provided estimates of vaccine impact on mouse anti-OspA antibody levels, nymphal tick infection prevalence (NIP), mouse infection rates, and seroconversion to\n                  <jats:italic>B. burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                  in hunting dogs. RTV sites exhibited an estimated 10.5% proportional increase in protective murine anti-OspA antibody levels and a 15.4% reduction in NIP by year five. We also found a lower infection prevalence in mouse blood fed nymphal ticks (9.8%). RTV sites exhibited modest decreases in mouse infection prevalence and dog seroconversion rates were similar between groups. Our results indicate that anti-OspA antibody in vaccinated-infected\n                  <jats:italic>P. leucopus<\/jats:italic>\n                  reduced\n                  <jats:italic>B. burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                  summertime larval infection prevalence, measured as NIP reductions the following spring. This suggests that OspA-based oral RTV reduces\n                  <jats:italic>B. burgdorferi<\/jats:italic>\n                  transstadial transmission within tick populations. Our findings advance development of reservoir targeted solutions for Lyme disease prevention. Further evaluation of impacts on incidental hosts is needed.\n                <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.64898\/2026.04.21.719976","type":"posted-content","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]],"date-time":"2026-04-23T06:40:11Z","timestamp":1776926411000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A double-blinded, placebo-controlled field trial of an OspA-based oral reservoir targeted vaccine against\n                  <i>Borrelia burgdorferi<\/i>"],"prefix":"10.64898","author":[{"given":"Amy M.","family":"Schwartz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ferney","family":"Henao-Ceballos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kathryn","family":"Arnold","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julia","family":"Poje","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Max","family":"Waugh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9333-6600","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Greg","family":"Joyner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jose F.","family":"Azevedo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tyler","family":"Baccam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Eric","family":"Kontowicz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kurayi","family":"Mahachi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paige","family":"Witucki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8591-1166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Suman","family":"Kundu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nisha","family":"Nair","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Felix","family":"Pabon-Rodriguez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Grant","family":"Brown","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"name":"Maryland Field Team","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christine","family":"Petersen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria","family":"Gomes-Solecki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"54368","reference":[{"key":"2026042512301048000_2026.04.21.719976v1.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2702.202731"},{"key":"2026042512301048000_2026.04.21.719976v1.2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.ss6622a1"},{"key":"2026042512301048000_2026.04.21.719976v1.3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2108.141878"},{"key":"2026042512301048000_2026.04.21.719976v1.4","unstructured":"Steere, A. 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