title: Detection and identification of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in ticks from three different regions in Slovakia.
abstract: Lyme borreliosis is one of the most common tick-borne diseases that occur in Slovakia. In this study, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was detected and cultivated from questing ticks collected in three areas of Slovakia. Two methods, restriction fragment length polymorphism and reverse line blot, were used for identification of isolates and determination of the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in the ticks. The prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in I. ricinus detected by reverse line blot was 31.9%. Four genospecies, namely B. garinii, B. valaisiana, B. afzelii and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto were found. B. garinii was the most prevalent genospecies.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Smetanová
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burri
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Lise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gern
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kocianová
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015995:Prevalence; D018154:Slovakia; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology*