title: Borrelia miyamotoi and Co-Infection with Borrelia afzelii in Ixodes ricinus Ticks and Rodents from Slovakia.
abstract: Borrelia miyamotoi causes relapsing fever in humans. The occurrence of this spirochete has been reported in Ixodes ricinus and wildlife, but there are still gaps in the knowledge of its eco-epidemiology and public health impact. In the current study, questing I. ricinus (nymphs and adults) and skin biopsies from rodents captured in Slovakia were screened for the presence of B. miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. DNA. The prevalence of B. miyamotoi and B. burgdorferi s.l. in questing ticks was 1.7 and 16.9%, respectively. B. miyamotoi was detected in Apodemus flavicollis (9.3%) and Myodes glareolus (4.4%). In contrast, B. burgdorferi s.l. was identified in 11.9% of rodents, with the highest prevalence in Microtus arvalis (68.4%) and a lower prevalence in Apodemus spp. (8.4%) and M. glareolus (12.4%). Borrelia afzelii was the prevailing genospecies infecting questing I. ricinus (37.9%) and rodents (72.2%). Co-infections of B. miyamotoi and B. burgdorferi s.l. were found in 24.1 and 9.3% of the questing ticks and rodents, respectively, whereas the proportion of ticks and rodents co-infected with B. miyamotoi and B. afzelii was 6.9 and 7.0%, respectively. The results suggest that B. miyamotoi and B. afzelii share amplifying hosts. The sequences of the B. miyamotoi glpQ gene fragment from our study showed a high degree of identity with sequences of the gene amplified from ticks and human patients in Europe. The results seem to suggest that humans in Slovakia are at risk of contracting tick-borne relapsing fever, and in some cases together with Lyme borreliosis.
authors.affiliation: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84506, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hamšíková
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, National Institute for Public Health and Environment, 9 Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan, P.O. Box 1, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Coipan
authors.affiliation: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84506, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mahríková
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Research Center, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Virology, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84505, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Lenka
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minichová
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Zoonoses and Environmental Microbiology, National Institute for Public Health and Environment, 9 Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan, P.O. Box 1, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sprong
authors.affiliation: Slovak Academy of Sciences, Institute of Zoology, Dúbravská cesta 9, 84506, Bratislava, Slovakia. maria.kazimirova@savba.sk.
authors.forename: Mária
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kazimírová
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001898:Borrelia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D015748:Borrelia burgdorferi Group / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060085:Coinfection; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000382:microbiology; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D051189:Murinae / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D009758:Nymph / Q000382:microbiology; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D015995:Prevalence; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D012377:Rodentia / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D018154:Slovakia / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010727:Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases; C087921:glpQ protein, Bacteria
keywords: Borrelia; Co-infection; Rodents; Slovakia; Ticks