Associations of passerine birds, rabbits, and ticks with Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia andersonii in Michigan, U.S.A.

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Jean I Tsao⁴  Edward D Walker¹  Jennifer L Sidge⁴  Rich Keith⁵  Graham J Hickling²  Sarah A Hamer³ 

[1] Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA;Center for Wildlife Health, University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA;Veterinary Integrative Bioscience Department, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA;Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA;Kalamazoo Valley Bird Observatory, Kalamazoo Nature Center, Kalamazoo, MI 49009, USA

关键词: Lyme disease;    Relapsing fever;    Eastern cottontail rabbit;    Wild birds;    Ixodes;    Borrelia andersonii;    Borrelia miyamotoi;    Ticks;   

Others  :  1229075
DOI  :  10.1186/1756-3305-5-231

 received in 2012-08-29, accepted in 2012-10-09,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Wild birds contribute to maintenance and dissemination of vectors and microbes, including those that impact human, domestic animal, and wildlife health. Here we elucidate roles of wild passerine birds, eastern cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), and Ixodes dentatus ticks in enzootic cycles of two spirochetes, Borrelia miyamotoi and B. andersonii in a region of Michigan where the zoonotic pathogen B. burgdorferi co-circulates.

Methods

Over a four-year period, wild birds (n = 19,631) and rabbits (n = 20) were inspected for tick presence and ear tissue was obtained from rabbits. Samples were tested for Borrelia spirochetes using nested PCR of the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region (IGS) and bidirectional DNA sequencing. Natural xenodiagnosis was used to implicate wildlife reservoirs.

Results

Ixodes dentatus, a tick that specializes on birds and rabbits and rarely bites humans, was the most common tick found, comprising 86.5% of the 12,432 ticks collected in the study. The relapsing fever group spirochete B. miyamotoi was documented for the first time in ticks removed from wild birds (0.7% minimum infection prevalence; MIP, in I. dentatus), and included two IGS strains. The majority of B. miyamotoi-positive ticks were removed from Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). Borrelia andersonii infected ticks removed from birds (1.6% MIP), ticks removed from rabbits (5.3% MIP), and rabbit ear biopsies (5%) comprised twelve novel IGS strains. Six species of wild birds were implicated as reservoirs for B. andersonii. Frequency of I. dentatus larval and nymphal co-feeding on birds was ten times greater than expected by chance. The relatively well-studied ecology of I. scapularis and the Lyme disease pathogen provides a context for understanding how the phenology of bird ticks may impact B. miyamotoi and B. andersonii prevalence and host associations.

Conclusions

Given the current invasion of I. scapularis, a human biting species that serves as a bridge vector for Borrelia spirochetes, human exposure to B. miyamotoi and B. andersonii in this region may increase. The presence of these spirochetes underscores the ecological complexity within which Borrelia organisms are maintained and the need for diagnostic tests to differentiate among these organisms.

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Hamer et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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