title: Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in rodents in an area with sympatric existence of the hard ticks Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus, Germany.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) has been described in the hard tick Ixodes ricinus and rodents as well as in some severe cases of human disease. The aims of this study were to identify DNA of CNM in small mammals, the ticks parasitizing them and questing ticks in areas with sympatric existence of Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus in Germany.
  
  
  METHODS
  Blood, transudate and organ samples (spleen, kidney, liver, skin) of 91 small mammals and host-attached ticks from altogether 50 small mammals as well as questing I. ricinus ticks (n=782) were screened with a real-time PCR for DNA of CNM.
  
  
  RESULTS
  52.7% of the small mammals were positive for CNM-DNA. The majority of the infected animals were yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) and bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Small mammals with tick infestation were more often infected with CNM than small mammals without ticks. Compared with the prevalence of ~25% in the questing I. ricinus ticks, twice the prevalence in the rodents provides evidence for their role as reservoir hosts for CNM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high prevalence of this pathogen in the investigated areas in both rodents and ticks points towards the need for more specific investigation on its role as a human pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Leopoldstr. 5, D-80802 Munich, Germany. cornelia.silaghi@tropa.vetmed.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silaghi
authors.forename: Dietlinde
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Woll
authors.forename: Monia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahling
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pfister
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pfeffer
mesh_terms: D000710:Anaplasmataceae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000711:Anaplasmataceae Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D060085:Coinfection; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000382:microbiology*; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D012377:Rodentia; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial