title: Ixodes ricinus ticks (Acari, Ixodidae) as a vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Borrelia miyamotoi in Lower Silesia, Poland--preliminary study.
abstract: Ixodes ricinus is the primary vector of Borrelia spirochetes in Europe, including both the Lyme borreliosis (LB) group and the relapsing fever (RF) group. The aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of different genospecies from the B. burgdorferi s.l. complex and B. miyamotoi in questing I. ricinus collected in chosen areas in Lower Silesia, SW Poland. A total of 599 I. ricinus ticks were investigated using the PCR-RFLP method. The calculated overall minimum infection rate of ticks with Borrelia spirochetes in Lower Silesia was 15.5%. Five different restriction patterns, characteristic of B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. burgdoreri s.s., B. valaisiana, and B. miyamotoi, were obtained and confirmed by DNA sequencing. At least 14% of ticks were infected with B. burgdorferi s.l. while B.afzelii was the dominant genospecies (68.5%). The MIR for B. miyamotoi was calculated at 2%. Four co-infections in single adult ticks were found: B. miyamotoi/B. afzelii, B. miyamotoi/B. burdorferi s.s., B. miyamotoi/B. garinii, and B. afzelii/B. burgdorferi s.s. The results of this study confirm the risk of LB and RF occuring in both urban and protected areas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbial Ecology and Environmental Protection, Institute of Genetics and Microbiology, University of Wroclaw, Przybyszewskiego 63/77 str., 51-148 Wroclaw, Poland. Electronic address: dorota.kiewra@microb.uni.wroc.pl.
authors.forename: Dorota
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kiewra
authors.affiliation: Department of Tropical Parasitology, Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, 9B Powstania Styczniowego str., 81-519 Gdynia, Poland.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stańczak
authors.affiliation: Subfaculty of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Al. Gen. J. Hallera 107, 80-416 Gdańsk, Poland.
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001898:Borrelia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D060085:Coinfection; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009758:Nymph; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: B. burgdorferi; B. miyamotoi; Borrelia; Ixodes ricinus; Lower Silesia; Poland