Transmission of the relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia miyamotoi, by single transovarially-infected larval Ixodes scapularis ticks

AbstractBorrelia miyamotoi, a bacterium that causes relapsing fever, is found in ixodid ticks throughout the northern hemisphere. The first cases of human infection with B. miyamotoi were identified in 2011. In the eastern USA, blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) become infected by feeding on an infected vertebrate host, or through transovarial transmission. We surveyed B. miyamotoi prevalence in ticks within forested habitats in Dutchess County, New York, and identified possible reservoir hosts. To assess spatial variation in infection, we collected questing nymphal ticks at > 150 sites. To assess temporal variation in infection, we collected questing nymphs for 8 years at a single study site. We collected questing larval ticks from nine plots to estimate the amount of transovarial transmission. To evaluate potential reservoir hosts, we captured 14 species of mammal and bird hosts naturally infested with larval blacklegged ticks and held these hosts in the laboratory until ticks fed to repletion and molted to nymphs. We determined infection for all ticks using quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The overall infection prevalence of questing nymphal ticks across all sites was ~ 1%, but prevalence at individual sites was as high as 9.1%. We detected no significant increase in infection through time. Only 0.4% of questing larval ticks were infected. Ticks having fed as larvae from short-tailed shrews, red squirrels, and opossums tended to have higher infection prevalence than did ticks having fed on other hosts. Further studies of the role of hosts in transmission are warranted. The locally high prevalence of B. miyamotoi in the New York/New England landscape suggests the importance of vigilance by health practitioners and the public.

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Detection of Borrelia miyamotoi and other tick-borne pathogens in human clinical specimens and Ixodes scapularis ticks in New York State, 2012–2015

Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases ◽

10.1016/j.ttbdis.2017.01.004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 407-411 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Danielle Wroblewski ◽

Linda Gebhardt ◽

Melissa A. Prusinski ◽

Lisa J. Meehan ◽

Tanya A. Halse ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Ixodes Scapularis ◽

New York State ◽

Borrelia Miyamotoi ◽

York State ◽

Clinical Specimens

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Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato and Relapsing Fever Borrelia in Feeding Ixodes Ticks and Rodents in Sarawak, Malaysia: New Geographical Records of Borrelia yangtzensis and Borrelia miyamotoi

Pathogens ◽

10.3390/pathogens9100846 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 846

Author(s):

Alice C. C. Lau ◽

Yongjin Qiu ◽

Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Moustafa ◽

Ryo Nakao ◽

Michito Shimozuru ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Borrelia Burgdorferi ◽

Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato ◽

Primary Forest ◽

Borrelia Miyamotoi ◽

Relapsing Fever ◽

Ixodes Ticks ◽

Ixodes Granulatus ◽

New Geographical Record ◽

Etiological Agents ◽

Malaysian Borneo

Members of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) complex are etiological agents of Lyme disease (LD), and Borrelia miyamotoi is one of the relapsing fever Borrelia (RFB). Despite the serological evidence of LD in Malaysia, there has been no report from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Thus, this study aimed to detect and characterize Borrelia in rodents and Ixodes ticks from primary forests and an oil palm (OP) plantation in Sarawak. Borrelia yangtzensis (a member of the Bbsl complex) was detected in 43.8% (14/32) of Ixodes granulatus; most of the positive ticks were from the OP plantation (13/14). Out of 56 rodents, B. yangtzensis was detected in four Rattus spp. from the OP plantation and B. miyamotoi was detected in one rodent, Sundamys muelleri, from the primary forest. Further, the positive samples of B. yangtzensis were randomly selected for multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA). The MLSA results of successfully amplified tick samples revealed a clustering with the sequences isolated from Japan and China. This study is the first evidence of B. miyamotoi, a known human pathogen in Malaysia, and B. yangtzensis, which is circulating in ticks and rodents in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, and presenting a new geographical record of the Borrelia spp.

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Corrigendum to “Vertical transmission rates of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes scapularis collected from white-tailed deer” [Ticks Tick-Borne Dis. 10 (2019) 682–689]

Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases ◽

10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.05.003 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 1173

Author(s):

Seungeun Han ◽

Charles Lubelczyk ◽

Graham J. Hickling ◽

Alexia A. Belperron ◽

Linda K. Bockenstedt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Vertical Transmission ◽

Ixodes Scapularis ◽

Borrelia Miyamotoi ◽

Transmission Rates

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Blood Smears Have Poor Sensitivity for ConfirmingBorrelia miyamotoiDisease

Journal of Clinical Microbiology ◽

10.1128/jcm.01468-18 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sam R. Telford ◽

Heidi K. Goethert ◽

Philip J. Molloy ◽

Victor Berardi

Keyword(s):

Lyme Disease ◽

Morphological Evidence ◽

Hard Tick ◽

Borrelia Miyamotoi ◽

Relapsing Fever ◽

Main Mode ◽

Blood Samples ◽

Content Type ◽

Blood Smears ◽

Thick Smear

ABSTRACTBorrelia miyamotoidisease (BMD) is a newly recognized borreliosis that is cotransmitted by ticks wherever Lyme disease is zoonotic. UnlikeBorrelia burgdorferisensu lato, the agent of Lyme disease,B. miyamotoiis closely related to relapsing fever spirochetes, such asBorrelia hermsii. Some authors have suggested that the disease caused byB. miyamotoishould be considered a hard-tick-transmitted relapsing fever, and thus, the main mode of confirming a diagnosis for that infection, microscopy to analyze a blood smear, may have clinical utility. To determine whether blood smears may detectB. miyamotoiin the blood of acute BMD patients, we made standard malariological thick smears from anticoagulated blood samples that were previously determined to contain this agent (by PCR) and analyzed them for morphological evidence of spirochetes. Spirochetes were not detected in the blood smears from 20 PCR positive patient blood samples after examination of 100 thick smear fields and only 2 of 20 demonstrated spirochetes when the examination was extended to 300 thick smear fields. Inoculation of severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice yielded isolates from 5 of 5 samples, but 0 of 3 BALB/c mice became infected. We conclude that in strong contrast to the diagnosis of typical relapsing fever, microscopy of blood smears is not sensitive enough for confirming a diagnosis of BMD but that SCID mouse inoculation could be a useful complement to PCR.

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Whole genome sequencing of Borrelia miyamotoi isolate Izh-4: reference for a complex bacterial genome

BMC Genomics ◽

10.1186/s12864-019-6388-4 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Konstantin V. Kuleshov ◽

Gabriele Margos ◽

Volker Fingerle ◽

Joris Koetsveld ◽

Irina A. Goptar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Single Molecule ◽

Bacterial Genome ◽

Borrelia Miyamotoi ◽

Whole Genome ◽

Relapsing Fever ◽

Linear Chromosome ◽

The North ◽

Long Read ◽

Variable Major Proteins ◽

Tick Vectors

Abstract Background The genus Borrelia comprises spirochaetal bacteria maintained in natural transmission cycles by tick vectors and vertebrate reservoir hosts. The main groups are represented by a species complex including the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis and relapsing fever group Borrelia. Borrelia miyamotoi belongs to the relapsing fever group of spirochetes and forms distinct populations in North America, Asia, and Europe. As all Borrelia species B. miyamotoi possess an unusual and complex genome consisting of a linear chromosome and a number of linear and circular plasmids. The species is considered an emerging human pathogen and an increasing number of human cases are being described in the Northern hemisphere. The aim of this study was to produce a high quality reference genome that will facilitate future studies into genetic differences between different populations and the genome plasticity of B. miyamotoi. Results We used multiple available sequencing methods, including Pacific Bioscience single-molecule real-time technology (SMRT) and Oxford Nanopore technology (ONT) supplemented with highly accurate Illumina sequences, to explore the suitability for whole genome assembly of the Russian B. miyamotoi isolate, Izh-4. Plasmids were typed according to their potential plasmid partitioning genes (PF32, 49, 50, 57/62). Comparing and combining results of both long-read (SMRT and ONT) and short-read methods (Illumina), we determined that the genome of the isolate Izh-4 consisted of one linear chromosome, 12 linear and two circular plasmids. Whilst the majority of plasmids had corresponding contigs in the Asian B. miyamotoi isolate FR64b, there were only four that matched plasmids of the North American isolate CT13–2396, indicating differences between B. miyamotoi populations. Several plasmids, e.g. lp41, lp29, lp23, and lp24, were found to carry variable major proteins. Amongst those were variable large proteins (Vlp) subtype Vlp-α, Vlp-γ, Vlp-δ and also Vlp-β. Phylogenetic analysis of common plasmids types showed the uniqueness in Russian/Asian isolates of B. miyamotoi compared to other isolates. Conclusions We here describe the genome of a Russian B. miyamotoi clinical isolate, providing a solid basis for future comparative genomics of B. miyamotoi isolates. This will be a great impetus for further basic, molecular and epidemiological research on this emerging tick-borne pathogen.

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