Detección de Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato en perros y sus garrapatas en comunidades rurales de Yucatán, México

Abstract

In Mexico, the distribution and the presence of pathogenic genospecies of B. burgdorferi in dogs and their ticks has not been extensively investigated. The study of canine borreliosis is acquiring greater relevance, since the dog is considered to be an important sentinel for pathogens pertaining to the complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato; in addition, dogs could be playing a key role in the spread of ticks from forested areas into the domestic environment. This study aimed to detect and estimate the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in dogs and their ticks in two rural communities of Yucatán, Mexico. In each community, 50 houses were visited, where 144 blood samples from dogs were studied by puncture of the saphenous vein, as well as the collection of their ticks. To detect the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in these samples, the conserved gene flaB, p66 and ospC were PCR amplified. A total of 144 dog blood samples, and 846 of ticks were obtained from the examined animals. Considering tick species, Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (786 / 846) was common, while Ixodes affinis (33 / 846), and Amblyomma mixtum (27 / 846) resulted less frequent. As per gene conservation, the prevalence of B. burgdorferi in canine blood was 17.3 % (25 / 144) to flaB, 12.50 % (18 / 144) for p66 and 1.38 % (2 / 144) for the ospC gene. Within the analyzed ticks, R. sanguineus s.l. had a prevalence of 0.89 %, A. mixtum 5.88 % and I. affinis 15.15 %, being this last species the one that presented higher prevalence. Two dogs and their ticks I. affinis were positive to the flaB gene. Only a tick R. sanguineus s.l. was positive to the gene p66 and no tick species was positive the ospC gene. This study confirmed the existence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in dogs and their ticks in rural communities of Yucatán, Mexico. The detection of Borrelia in dogs may be an important criterion for the evaluation of the risk of borreliosis in humans, since the dog can be used as an epidemiological indicator for the identification of new outbreaks of this disease.

Possible Association between Selected Tick-Borne Pathogen Prevalence and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato Infestation in Dogs from Juarez City (Chihuahua), Northwest Mexico–US Border

“…This finding could perhaps be attributed to the particular characteristics of B. burgdorferi , which is highly transitory in blood. Lyme disease is one of the most important zoonoses in the US, with a presentation of around 300,000 cases per year in humans [ 59 ], and was also described in dogs and ticks at the US–Mexico border [ 27 , 60 , 61 , 62 ]. The absence of this pathogen in our study might be explained by the fact that the primary vector of Borrelia burgdorferi is another tick, Ixodes spp.…”

Molecular Detection of Tick-Borne Pathogens in American Bison (Bison bison) at El Uno Ecological Reserve, Janos, Chihuahua, Mexico

“…The main vectors for B. burgdorferi are ticks of the genus Ixodes, especially I. scapularis, I. pacificus and I. ricinus. A recent report in Mexico of ticks include I. affinis, which might be a competent vector for B. burgdorferi [47]. The main vectors for R. ricketssi are Dermacentor variabilis, Ammblyoma americanum, and R. sanguineus [48][49][50].…”

Lyme disease and relapsing fever in Mexico: An overview of human and wildlife infections

“…Thus, studies on Lyme disease in Mexico are recent and focus mainly on comparing LB with the other Borrelia groups, both in human cases as well as in animals [ 6 , 88 , 91 ]. Historically, LB has been identified in the majority of human cases (almost 97%) in Mexico, as compared to RF.…”