title: Comprehensive surveillance of the antibody response to Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in small ruminants in China.
abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the etiological agent of Lyme disease, is tick transmitted and has a wide range of mammalian reservoirs in nature, including both wild and domestic animals. To understand the seroprevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in small ruminants will add value to the risk analysis of Lyme disease. The current study was intended to map the potential endemic regions of Lyme disease by large-scale investigation of sera from sheep and goats. In this study, a total of 2,758 serum samples from sheep and goats in 21 provinces located in 40 different districts of China were tested for antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The results of this survey indicated that the overall prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. infection ranges from 5.3 to 63.5 % (mean: 26.3%), and the infection was found in all provinces investigated. Generally, the positive rate declined from the south (34.7% in south and 32.4% in southwest) towards the north of China (18.4% in north, 16.5% in northeast and 17.2% in northwest). A significant difference was also observed in the infection rate between south and north (33.2% versus 17.4%, P<0.001). This study presents a comprehensive investigation of the serological distribution of B. burgdorferi s.l. in small ruminants in China.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jifei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Zhijie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Guiquan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Youquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ze
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Miling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Aihong
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Qiaoyun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jinming
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jianxun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science, P. R. China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000662:veterinary; D015511:Goat Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006041:Goats; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D012756:Sheep; D012757:Sheep Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial