First report of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in two threatened carnivores: the marbled polecat, Vormela peregusna and the European mink, Mustela lutreola (Mammalia: Mustelidae).
BACKGROUND
Lyme disease is a widespread cosmopolitan zoonosis caused by species belonging to the genus Borrelia. It is transmitted from animal reservoir hosts to humans through hard - ticks of genus Ixodes which are vectors of the disease.


METHODS
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection was identified in a marbled polecat, Vormela peregusna, and two European minks, Mustela lutreola, from Romania, by PCR. RFLP revealed the presence of a single genospecies, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first report of the Lyme disease spirochetes in the two mentioned hosts.
Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Calea Mănăștur 3-5, Cluj-Napoca, 400372, Romania.
Călin M
CM
Gherman
Attila D
AD
Sándor
Zsuzsa
Z
Kalmár
Mihai
M
Marinov
Andrei D
AD
Mihalca
D000818:Animals; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D056727:Endangered Species; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D045969:Mustelidae; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology