title: Low prevalence of Borrelia bavariensis in Ixodes ricinus ticks in southeastern Austria.
abstract: Borrelia bavariensis was recently described as a distinct genospecies among the B. burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The prevalence of B. bavariensis in Austria, a highly endemic area for tick-transmitted pathogens, is scarcely characterized. To investigate the prevalence of B. bavariensis in Ixodes ricinus ticks we reevaluated the results of a study conducted in 518 ticks from southeastern Austria collected in 2002 and 2003. The presence of B. burgdorferi s.l.-specific DNA in ticks was analyzed by a PCR for the outer surface protein A (ospA) gene. Borrelia species were differentiated by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, and samples positive for B. bavariensis were further analyzed by multilocus sequence analysis. Two of 133 (1.5%) B. burgdorferi s.l.-positive I. ricinus ticks were infected with B. bavariensis. Both specimens were coinfected with the OspA serotype 5 of B. garinii. Borrelia bavariensis is present; however, seem to be rare in I. ricinus ticks in southeastern Austria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland. Electronic address: glatz.martin@gmx.net.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Glatz
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria; Department of Dermatology, State Hospital Wiener Neustadt, Wiener Neustadt, Austria.
authors.forename: Robert R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Muellegger
authors.affiliation: German National Reference Centre for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hizo-Teufel
authors.affiliation: German National Reference Centre for Borrelia, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fingerle
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001317:Austria; D001898:Borrelia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male
keywords: Austria; Borrelia bavariensis; Ixodes ricinus; Ticks