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Lyme
borreliosis is the most common tick-borne human disease and is caused
by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.). Borrelia miyamotoi, a
relapsing fever spirochaete, is transmitted transovarially, whereas this
has not been shown for B. burgdorferi (s.l). Therefore, B. burgdorferi
(s.l) is considered to cycle from nymphs to larvae through vertebrates.
Larvae of Ixodes ricinus are occasionally B. burgdorferi (s.l) infected,
but their vector competence has never been studied.
We
challenged 20 laboratory mice with field-collected larvae of I.
ricinus. A subset of these larvae was analysed for infections with B.
burgdorferi (s.l) and B. miyamotoi. After three to four challenges, mice
were sacrificed and skin and spleen samples were analysed for infection
by PCR and culture.
Field-collected
larvae were naturally infected with B. burgdorferi (s.l) (0.62 %) and
B. miyamotoi (2.0 %). Two mice acquired a B. afzelii infection and four
mice acquired a B. miyamotoi infection during the larval challenges.
We
showed that larvae of I. ricinus transmit B. afzelii and B. miyamotoi
to rodents and calculated that rodents have a considerable chance of
acquiring infections from larvae compared to nymphs. As a result, B.
afzelii can cycle between larvae through rodents. Our findings further
imply that larval bites on humans, which easily go unnoticed, can cause
Lyme borreliosis and Borrelia miyamotoi disease.
Parasit Vectors. 2016 Feb 20;9(1):97. doi: 10.1186/s13071-016-1389-5.
Larvae of Ixodes ricinus transmit Borrelia afzelii and B. miyamotoi to vertebrate hosts.
van Duijvendijk G1, Coipan C2, Wagemakers A3, Fonville M4, Ersöz J5, Oei A6, Földvári G7, Hovius J8, Takken W9, Sprong H10.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
METHODS:
RESULTS:
CONCLUSION:
- PMID:
- 26896940
- [PubMed - in process]
- PMCID:
- PMC4761128
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