Rapid Detection Methods and Prevalence Estimation for<i>Borrelia lonestari glpQ</i>in<i>Amblyomma americanum</i>(Acari: Ixodidae) Pools of Unequal Size

Bacon, Rendi Murphree; Pilgard, Mark A.; Johnson, Barbara J. B.; Piesman, Joseph; Biggerstaff, Brad J.; Quintana, Miguel

doi:10.1089/vbz.2005.5.146

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Testing at TAMU and Ibis Biosciences using assays designed to amplify B. lonestari detected this organism in samples that had produced negative or inconsistent results using the Clark primers at USAPHC (Table 2). However, the low prevalence of infection with B. lonestari detected in these samples is congruent with previous surveillance (2,8,21,24,34,35). For example, in our program from 1997 to 2010, a total of 18,546 A. americanum ticks were tested with nested and real-time primers that were capable of amplifying B. lonestari, and 195/17,226 (1.1%) of adults and nymphs and 4/1,320 larvae (0.3% minimum infection prevalence) were positive (2,8,20).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…For example, in 2001, when B. lonestari, an RF group Borrelia species found in A. americanum, was tentatively linked to a case of southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI) (5), HTTKP testing was modified to include testing for B. lonestari (21)(22)(23)(24). However, epidemiological studies of STARI patients did not support the hypothesized link between STARI and B. lonestari (6,7,25), so targeting of this Borrelia species in the HTTKP ended in 2009.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Borrelia burgdorferi Not Confirmed in Human-Biting Amblyomma americanum Ticks from the Southeastern United States

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The predominant human-biting tick throughout the southeastern United States is Amblyomma americanum. Its ability to transmit pathogens causing Lyme disease-like illnesses is a subject of ongoing controversy. Results of previous testing by the Department of Defense Human Tick Test Kit Program and other laboratories indicated that it is highly unlikely that A. americanum transmits any pathogen that causes Lyme disease. In contrast, a recent publication by Clark and colleagues (K. L. Clark, B. Leydet, and S. Hartman, Int. J. Med. Sci. 10:915-931, 2013) reported detection of Lyme group Borrelia in A. americanum using a nested-flagellin-gene PCR. We evaluated this assay by using it and other assays to test 1,097 A. americanum ticks collected from humans. Using the Clark assay, in most samples we observed nonspecific amplification and nonrepeatability of results on subsequent testing of samples. Lack of reaction specificity and repeatability is consistent with mispriming, likely due to high primer concentrations and low annealing temperatures in this protocol. In six suspect-positive samples, Borrelia lonestari was identified by sequencing of an independent gene region; this is not a Lyme group spirochete and is not considered zoonotic. B. burgdorferi was weakly amplified from one pool using some assays, but not others, and attempts to sequence the amplicon of this pool failed, as did attempts to amplify and sequence B. burgdorferi from the five individual samples comprising this pool. Therefore, B. burgdorferi was not confirmed in any sample. Our results do not support the hypothesis that A. americanum ticks are a vector for Lyme group Borrelia infections. T he vectors and etiologic agents of Lyme-like diseases in the southeastern United States are a subject of ongoing controversy (1, 2). In the United States, most Lyme disease is caused by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, a bacterium that is phylogenetically within the B. burgdorferi sensu lato "Lyme group" of spirochetes vectored by hard ticks. The Lyme group also includes genospecies implicated as the etiologic agents of Lyme disease in other geographic regions, including B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. spielmanii, and B. valaisiana in Europe. Additional Lyme group genospecies continue to be described. In the United States, these include B. americana, B. andersonii, and B. carolinensis, all of unknown pathogenicity, and B. bissettii, which has been implicated in cases of human illness (1). In contrast to the Lyme group, the relapsing fever (RF) group spirochetes, many of which are vectored by soft ticks, are a separate phylogenetic cluster that includes agents associated with RF disease in humans. In the United States, genospecies within the RF group include B. hermsii, B. turicatae, and B. parkeri, vectored by soft ticks, and B. miyamotoi, B. davisii, and B. lonestari, vectored by hard ticks. B. hermsii is the main cause of tick-borne relapsing fever in the United States; B. turicatae and B. parkeri have also been associated with human disease (3). B...

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Borrelia burgdorferi Not Confirmed in Human-Biting Amblyomma americanum Ticks from the Southeastern United States

et al. 2015

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Notably, B. lonestari was detected in a smaller percentage (0.4%) of lone star ticks tested. In general, prevalence of infection reported in other surveys has been comparably higher, but only ranging up to 10% (Burkot et al 2001, Clark 2004, Bacon et al 2005, Taft et al 2005, Schulze et al 2006.…”

Section: Pathogen Prevalencementioning

confidence: 66%

Bacterial Pathogens in Ixodid Ticks from a Piedmont County in North Carolina: Prevalence of Rickettsial Organisms

Smith

Ponnusamy

Jiang

et al. 2010

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In North Carolina, reported human cases of tick-borne illness, specifically Rocky Mountain spotted fever, have escalated over the past decade. To determine the relative abundance of vectors and to estimate the risk of acquiring a tick-borne illness in peri-residential landscapes, ticks were collected in Chatham County, a typical Piedmont county and, samples of the ticks were tested for infection with selected bacterial pathogens using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays. Ticks (n = 3746) were collected by flagging vegetation at 26 sites from April to July 2006. The predominant questing tick was Amblyomma americanum (98.5%) with significantly fewer Dermacentor variabilis (1.0%) and Ixodes scapularis (0.5%) collected. Spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae were detected in 68.2% of 1590 A. americanum with 56.4% of the molecular isolates identified as Rickettsia amblyommii, an informally named member of the SFG rickettsiae. Comparatively, smaller numbers of A. americanum contained Ehrlichia chaffeensis (1.8%) and Borrelia lonestari (0.4%). Of 15 I. scapularis nymphs tested, 6 (40%) were positive for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Seven (19.4%) of 36 adult D. variabilis tested positive for Rickettsia montanensis, 4 (11.1%) were positive for R. amblyommii, and 5 (13.9%) were infected with unidentified species of SFG rickettsiae. The tick population in Chatham County contains a diverse array of microbes, some of which are known or potential pathogens. Highest attack rates would be expected from A. americanum ticks, and highest potential risk of infection with a tick-transmitted agent would be to rickettsial organisms, particularly R. amblyommii. Accordingly, longitudinal eco-epidemiology investigations are needed to determine the public health importance of A. americanum infected with rickettsial organisms.

show abstract

“…For the singleplex assay, we modified the primers and probe from a real-time PCR assay previously used to detect glpQ in B. lonestari (Bacon et al, 2005) to target a 108-nt segment of the North American B. miyamotoi glpQ gene. The duplex reaction targets a 77-nt segment of the I. scapularis actin gene as previously described (Hojgaard et al, 2014), and a 121-nt segment of the adenylosuccinate lyase ( purB ) gene.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paired real-time PCR assays for detection of Borrelia miyamotoi in North American Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae)

Graham

Pilgard

Maes

et al. 2016

Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Borrelia miyamotoi is an emerging, tick-borne human pathogen. In North America, it is primarily associated with Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus, two species known to bite humans. Here we describe the development and evaluation of a pair of real-time TaqMan PCR assays designed to detect B. miyamotoi in North American ticks. We sought to achieve sensitivity to B. miyamotoi strains associated with ticks throughout North America, the full genetic diversity of which is unknown, by targeting sequences that are largely conserved between B. miyamotoi strains from the eastern United States and genetically distinct B. miyamotoi strains from Japan. The two assays target different loci on the B. miyamotoi chromosome and can be run side by side under identical cycling conditions. One of the assays also includes a tick DNA target that can be used to verify the integrity of tick-derived samples. Using both recombinant plasmid controls and genomic DNA from North American and Japanese strains, we determined that both assays reliably detect as few as 5 copies of the B. miyamotoi genome. We verified that neither detects B. burgdorferi, B. lonestari or B. turicatae. This sensitive and specific pair of assays successfully detected B. miyamotoi in naturally-infected, colony-reared nymphs and in field-collected I. scapularis and I. pacificus from the Northeast and the Pacific Northwest respectively. These assays will be useful in screening field-collected Ixodes spp. from varied regions of North America to assess the risk of human exposure to this emerging pathogen.

show abstract

Rapid Detection Methods and Prevalence Estimation forBorrelia lonestari glpQinAmblyomma americanum(Acari: Ixodidae) Pools of Unequal Size

Cited by 18 publications

References 38 publications

Borrelia burgdorferi Not Confirmed in Human-Biting Amblyomma americanum Ticks from the Southeastern United States

Borrelia burgdorferi Not Confirmed in Human-Biting Amblyomma americanum Ticks from the Southeastern United States

Bacterial Pathogens in Ixodid Ticks from a Piedmont County in North Carolina: Prevalence of Rickettsial Organisms

Paired real-time PCR assays for detection of Borrelia miyamotoi in North American Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About