Kinetics of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in larvae of refractory and competent tick vectors

Journal of Medical Entomology
C A G SoaresJ Piesman

Abstract

The acquisition of Borrelia burgdorferi by the larvae of competent and refractory ixodid ticks was assessed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Larvae were fed on infected mice, and the spirochete loads were determined during feeding and up to 93 d postfeeding. Amblyomma americanum (L.) was refractory to B. burgdorferi infection, with almost no detection of spirochete DNA during or postfeeding. In contrast, Ixodes scapularis Say supported high loads of spirochetes (10(3)-10(4) per larva). In Dermacentor variabilis (Say), B. burgdorferi uptake was reduced, with an average of 16 spirochetes per larvae acquired after 4 d of feeding, representing 1/195 of the counts in I. scapularis. However, during the first day postfeeding, the spirochete growth rate in D. variabilis reached 0.076 generations per hour, 7.7 times greater than the highest growth rate detected in I. scapularis. D. variabilis supported intense spirochete growth up to the fourth day postinfection, when the counts increased to an average of 282 spirochetes per larvae or 1/8.5 of the I. scapularis counts 4 d postfeeding. The kinetics of spirochete growth was unstable in D. variabilis compared with I. scapularis, and transmission of B. burgdorferi by D. vari...Continue Reading

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Citations

Nov 6, 2007·Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases·Luciana A YparraguirreCarlos A G Soares
May 11, 2017·Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases·Konstance K KnoxDonald R Carrigan
Sep 3, 2010·The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene·Sara M ReeseRebecca J Eisen
Apr 1, 2017·Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology·Veronika UrbanováPetr Kopáček
Jan 11, 2020·Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology·Dolores GennéMaarten J Voordouw
Feb 6, 2017·Environmental Microbiology·Dieter HeylenAna Cláudia Norte

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