title: Geographical distribution and prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi genospecies in questing Ixodes ricinus from Romania: a countrywide study.
abstract: The paper reports the prevalence and geographical distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) and its genospecies in 12,221 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks collected at 183 locations from all the 41 counties of Romania. The unfed ticks were examined for the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. by PCR targeting the intergenic spacer 5S-23S. Reverse line blot hybridization (RLB) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis were performed for identification of B. burgdorferi genospecies. The overall prevalence of infection was 1.4%, with an average local prevalence between 0.75% and 18.8%. B. burgdorferi s.l. was found in ticks of 55 of the 183 localities. The overall prevalence B. burgdorferi s.l. in ticks in the infected localities was 3.8%. The total infection prevalence was higher in female ticks than in other developmental stages. Three Borrelia genospecies were detected. The most widely distributed genospecies was B. afzelii, followed by B. garinii and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.). The study is the first countrywide study and the first report of B. burgdorferi s.s. in Romania. The distribution maps show that higher prevalences were recorded in hilly areas, but Lyme borreliosis spirochetes were also present in forested lowlands, albeit with a lower prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Zsuzsa
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Kalmár
authors.forename: Andrei D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Mihalca
authors.forename: Mirabela O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Dumitrache
authors.forename: Călin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Gherman
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magdaş
authors.forename: Viorica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mircean
authors.forename: Miruna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oltean
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Domşa
authors.forename: Ioana A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Matei
authors.forename: Daniel I
authors.initials: DI
authors.lastname: Mărcuţan
authors.forename: Attila D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Sándor
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.forename: Anamaria
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paştiu
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Györke
authors.forename: Raluca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gavrea
authors.forename: Béla
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Marosi
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ionică
authors.forename: Etelka
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Burkhardt
authors.forename: Hortenzia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Toriay
authors.forename: Vasile
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cozma
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001898:Borrelia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D009758:Nymph; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D015995:Prevalence; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Borrelia afzelii; Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato; Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto; Borrelia garinii; Ixodes ricinus; Romania