title: Human pathogenic borreliae in Ixodes ricinus ticks in natural and urban ecosystem (Czech Republic).
abstract: A total of 1279 field-collected Ixodes ricinus ticks were screened for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in a natural and an urban ecosystem of Ostrava city (Czech Republic) by using molecular methods. Minimal prevalence rate for Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in ticks for the urban park Bělský les was found to be 13.8% (17.6% in males, 17.8% in females and 11.7% in nymphs), similarly for the natural site Proskovice was minimal prevalence 15% (12.5% in males, 20% in females and 14.9% in nymphs). Six proven human pathogenic genomic species have been recorded in the study: B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. burgdorferi s.s., B. valaisiana, B. lusitaniae, and B. spielmanii. Emerging B. spielmanii was detected for the first time in Ixodes ricinus ticks in the region. Our results highlight the need for surveillance of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens even in urban areas.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Vertebrate Biology, v.v.i., Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Kristýna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Venclíková
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Betášová
authors.forename: Silvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sikutová
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jedličková
authors.forename: Zdeněk
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hubálek
authors.forename: Ivo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rudolf
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001898:Borrelia / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002947:Cities; D018153:Czech Republic / Q000453:epidemiology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D009758:Nymph / Q000382:microbiology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction