title: Distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks from the Basque Country, Spain.
abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi was found widespread in ixodid ticks from the Basque Country (Spain) during a two-step study. In the first part, a total of 7,835 ixodids of eight different species was collected from vegetation, classified, and processed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of B. burgdorferi ospA DNA. B. burgdorferi DNA wasdetectedin < or = 12.5% of adults and > or = 0.6% of Ixodes ricinus (L., 1758) nymphs (mean 1.5 and 0.05%, respectively), and in < or = 14.3% of adult Hemaphysalis punctata (Canestrini & Fanzago, 1877) analyzed (mean 1.2%). The second part of the study was undertaken 2 yr later to characterize B. burgdorferi distribution by focusing on the areas where L. ricinus was the predominant species. Ten areas were selected from which 1,535 nymphs and adults of I. ricinus were collected and processed by PCR and culture techniques. Infected ticks were found in all zones. B. burgdorferi DNA was detected in a mean of 9.3 and 1.5% of adults and nymphs, respectively. Nine isolates of B. burgdorferi were obtained, belonging to four different genospecies (B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, B. valaisiana, and B. lusitaniae). The results indicate that some areas of Spain have a potential risk for Lyme disease agent exposure and that B. borgdorferi appears to have an increasing occurrence in ticks in the Basque Country.
authors.affiliation: NEIKER, Instituto Vasco de Investigación y Desarrollo Agrario, Bizkaia, Spain. mbarral@neiker.net
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barral
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: García-Pérez
authors.forename: Ramón A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Juste
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hurtado
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Escudero
authors.forename: Ricela E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Sellek
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial