Role of birds in Thuringia, Germany, in the natural cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the Lyme disease spirochaete

International Journal of Medical Microbiology : IJMM
Susanne KippVolker Fingerle

Abstract

Three hundred and twenty-two birds belonging to 35 species were live-captured in Reifenstein, Middle Germany, from March to October 2004, to investigate their role as hosts of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and its vector ticks. A total of 141 Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from 53 birds belonging to eight species was investigated for the prevalence of B. burgdorferi by a PCR-RFLP analysis of the OspA gene. Three of these bird species, the blackbird (Turdus merula), the song thrush (T. philomelos), and the bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) harboured B. burgdorferi s.l. infected ticks. The prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in the bird-feeding ticks was 25%. The majority of the ticks carried B. garinii (53%), followed by B. valaisiana (28%). In the same region, 256 questing ticks were collected to determine the local Borrelia genospecies diversity in I. ricinus. In all, 15.2% of the ticks which were found positive for B. burgdorferi s.l. contained B. valaisiana (45%) as the most frequent genospecies. The results of the present study indicate an important role of the blackbird and the song thrush in the natural cycle of B. burgdorferi s.l. in Thuringia.

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Citations

Apr 18, 2013·Vector Borne and Zoonotic Diseases·Julia GellerIrina Golovljova
Aug 24, 2010·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Jan FrankeAnke Hildebrandt
Aug 22, 2012·Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases·Lenka DubskaVeronika Taragelova
Aug 14, 2012·Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases·Elisabeth Meyer-KayserLygia M F Passos
Jul 21, 2011·Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases·Jan FrankeWolfram Dorn
Apr 18, 2016·Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine·Valentina Virginia EbaniPaolo Mani
Apr 9, 2008·Infection, Genetics and Evolution : Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases·David DuneauKaren D McCoy
Jan 3, 2013·Environmental Microbiology·Dieter HeylenHein Sprong
Sep 15, 2009·International Journal for Parasitology·Dieter J A HeylenErik Matthysen
Mar 22, 2008·FEMS Microbiology Ecology·Leo van OverbeekWillem Takken
Jan 6, 2017·Scientific Reports·Dieter J A HeylenMaarten J Voordouw

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