Infestation of sand lizards (Lacerta agilis) resident in the Northeastern Poland by Ixodes ricinus (L.) ticks and their infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

2007 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Gryczyńska-Siemiątkowska ◽  
Alicja Siedlecka ◽  
Joanna Stańczak ◽  
Miłosława Barkowska

AbstractSand lizards (Lacerta agilis) were trapped and examined for ticks from May to September in 2002 and 2003 in Northeastern Poland. A total of 233 Ixodes ricinus (L.) ticks (76 larvae and 157 nymphs) was found on 31 of 235 captured lizards (13.2%). The tick infestation is relatively low compared to that of mammals and passerine birds from the same area (Siński et al. 2006, Gryczyńska et al. 2002). Tick infestation depended on the month of capture, being the highest in spring. In autumn no ticks were recorded on any of the captured lizards. The oldest lizards carried the highest number of ticks but no differences related to sex of the host were found. All the collected ticks were analysed by PCR for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the etiological agents of Lyme disease. Spirochetes were detected in 11 out of 233 (4.7%) ticks tested. Genetic analysis confirmed that the spirochetes are members of the Borrelia afzelii, B. garinii and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto genospecies. Mixed infection were not detected. The prevalence of infection was analysed in relation to months of the capture, age and sex of the lizards, but differences were not statistically significant. The obtained results suggest that lizards are probably not B. burgdorferi reservoirs, but further studies are required to confirm this.

2006 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 976-979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Angèle Poupon ◽  
Elena Lommano ◽  
Pierre-François Humair ◽  
Véronique Douet ◽  
Olivier Rais ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The prevalence of ticks infected by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato on birds during their migrations was studied in Switzerland. A total of 1,270 birds captured at two sites were examined for tick infestation. Ixodes ricinus was the dominant tick species. Prevalences of tick infestation were 6% and 18.2% for birds migrating northward and southward, respectively. Borrelia valaisiana was the species detected most frequently in ticks, followed by Borrelia garinii and Borrelia lusitaniae. Among birds infested by infected ticks, 23% (6/26) were infested by B. lusitaniae-infected larvae. Migratory birds appear to be reservoir hosts for B. lusitaniae.


1998 ◽  
Vol 36 (11) ◽  
pp. 3352-3354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Christine Misonne ◽  
Georges Van Impe ◽  
Philippe P. Hoet

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), the etiological agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted by the bite of Ixodes ricinus. Four hundred eighty-nine ticks, collected in four locations of a region of southern Belgium where Lyme disease is endemic, were examined for the presence of the spirochete. In a PCR test with primers that recognize a chromosomal gene of all strains, 23% of the ticks were found to be infected. The species B. burgdorferi s.l. comprises at least three pathogenic genomospecies, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.),Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii, which could be distinguished in PCR tests with species-specific primers that correspond to distinct plasmid sequences. B. garinii was most prevalent (53% of infected ticks), followed by B. burgdorferi s.s. (38%) and B. afzelii (9%). Of the infected ticks, 40% were infected with a single species, 40% were infected with two species, and 5% were infected with all three species. For 15% of the ticks, the infecting species could not be identified. No difference in rates of prevalence was observed among the four locations, which had similar ground covers, even though they belonged to distinct biogeographic regions. A greater heterogeneity of spirochetal DNA in ticks than in cultured reference DNA was suggested by a comparison of the results of PCRs with two different sets of species-specific primer sequences.


2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna K. Strzelczyk ◽  
Jadwiga Gaździcka ◽  
Piotr Cuber ◽  
Marek Asman ◽  
Gizela Trapp ◽  
...  

AbstractIn 2008-2011 ticks were collected from southern Poland. Out of 6336 individuals collected and identified as Ixodes ricinus, 768 (2 larvae, 84 nymphs, 417 females, 265 males) were included in molecular study. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and types of genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in ticks. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was applied to detect the presence of pathogens in ticks. Subsequently the amplified DNA was digested with TasI enzyme. The infection rate was 15% (116) of examined ticks. PCR-RFLP analysis allowed distinguishing three genospecies of B. burgdorferi s.l.: B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, and B. garinii. RFLP analyses of 116 positive samples revealed 96 (83%) monoinfections and 13 (11%) coinfections, whereas unidentified genospecies were present in 7 (6%) of positive samples. In the case of monoinfections, B. burgdorferi s.s. was the predominant species of pathogen in infected ticks - 61.4%. Other genospecies: B. garinii and B. afzelii were detected in 22.9% and 15.6% of the samples, respectively. To sum up, 15 % of ticks were infected by B. burgdorferi s.l which increases the risk of human infections in the recreational areas of southern Poland. Furthermore, there is a need to increase public awareness and implement more preventive measures concerning Lyme disease.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Ekner ◽  
Krzysztof Dudek ◽  
Zofia Sajkowska ◽  
Viktória Majláthová ◽  
Igor Majláth ◽  
...  

Biologija ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Radzijevskaja ◽  
Olav Rosef ◽  
Vesta Matulaitytė ◽  
Algimantas Paulauskas

Birds are increasingly considered important in the  global dispersal of tick-borne pathogens. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected on passerine birds from two ornithological stations (Jomfruland and Lista) in southern Norway. In both sampling sites a total of 608 (109 larvae and 499 nymphs) of immature ticks were collected from 157 infested birds representing 26 species. The presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA in ticks was tested using direct PCR amplification of the ospA gene, localized on lp-54 plasmid in B. burgdorferi s.l. genome. Twenty one out of 157 infested (13%) birds carried B. burgdorferi s.l. infected Ixodes ricinus ticks. B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA was detected in 19.7% of the tick samples. In total, 6.4% of larvae (7/109) and 10% of nymphs (50/499) were positive. The vast majority of infected ticks were found on blackbird (Turdus merula). The most frequent genospecies was B. garinii (85.5%), followed by B. afzelii (9.0%) and B. valaisiana (5.5%). Five different B. garinii genotypes were identified. Our findings showed that the blackbirds may support the circulation and spread of B. garinii and B. valaisiana. B. garinii was not detected in questing ticks from investigated locations. B. afzelii genospecies, however, dominated in questing ticks, rodents and ticks from rodents.


2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Jenkins ◽  
Dag Hvidsten ◽  
Andreas Matussek ◽  
Per-Eric Lindgren ◽  
Snorre Stuen ◽  
...  

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e0118146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erica A. Newman ◽  
Lars Eisen ◽  
Rebecca J. Eisen ◽  
Natalia Fedorova ◽  
Jeomhee M. Hasty ◽  
...  

Pathogens ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 846
Author(s):  
Alice C. C. Lau ◽  
Yongjin Qiu ◽  
Mohamed Abdallah Mohamed Moustafa ◽  
Ryo Nakao ◽  
Michito Shimozuru ◽  
...  

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.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document