High Diversity and Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Wildlife Hosts, Domestic Animals, and Ticks in Yunnan Province, Southwestern China

Frontiers in Microbiology

Lin Huang¹  Michael E. von Fricken²  Zhihai He³  Yi Sun⁴  Baogui Jiang⁴  Jiafu Jiang⁴  Fan Wang⁵  Yuqiong Li⁵  Ennian Pu⁵  Yi Dong⁵  Mingguo Yao⁵  Hang Jiang⁵  Zongti Shao⁵  Jian Wang⁵  Chunhong Du⁵  Xingde Duan⁵  Shuangshuang Bie⁵  Yun Zhang⁵ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China;Department of Global and Community Health, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, United States;Longgang Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Shenzhen, Guangdong, China;State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China;Yunnan Institute of Endemic Diseases Control and Prevention, Yunnan, China;

关键词: lyme disease;    Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato;    small mammals;    ticks;    domestic mammals;    China;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmicb.2022.876079

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (BBSL), the causative agent of Lyme disease, is commonly found in wild and domestic mammals and ticks worldwide. In China, human cases of Borrelia burgdorferi infections have been identified across a wide geographic range including Yunnan Province, but few studies have examined BBSL in reservoirs and vectors in southwestern China. Here we conducted a thorough and broad-range investigation of BBSL in small mammals, domestic mammals, and ticks collected from 159 sample sites across 42 counties in Yunnan Province. DNA was extracted from spleen tissue of small mammals, blood from domestic mammals, and homogenized ticks. Nested PCR targeting the 5S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer gene of BBSL was used for screening, with amplicons sequenced directly and analyzed using a BLAST algorithm. A total of 8,478 samples were collected, which were composed of 5,044 mammals belonging to 68 species, 1,927 livestock belonging to five species, and 1, 507 ticks belonging to 14 species. BBSL was detected in 147 mammals (2.9%) from 30 different species, 20 of which represent the first reported detection in that species. A total of 52 (2.7%) livestock samples were positive for BBSL, with dogs having the highest detection rate (6.3%, 43/687), and 103 ticks (6.8%) tested positive with high prevalence in Ixodes granulatus (44.2%, 23/52), Haemaphysalis nepalensi (33.3%, 3/9) and Haemaphysalis kolonini (19.0%, 31/163). Sequence analysis revealed six genospecies of BBSL including B. afzelii, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. japonica, B. garinii, B. sinica, and B. valaisiana. Significant differences in prevalence rates of BBSL were observed by species, landscape types, altitude, and season. Our findings indicate a wide distribution of multiple endemic BBSL genospecies based on a large-scale survey within Yunnan, which underline the need to expand surveillance efforts for human in southwestern China.

【 授权许可】

Unknown