Surveillance for Borrelia spp. in Upland Game Birds in Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract

<jats:p>The Borrelia genus contains two major clades, the Lyme borreliosis group, which includes the causative agents of Lyme disease/borreliosis (B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and other related B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies), and the relapsing fever borreliosis group (B. hermsii, B. turicatae, and B. parkeri). Other unclassified reptile- and echidna-associated Borrelia spp. (i.e., B. turcica and ‘Candidatus Borrelia tachyglossi’, respectively) do not belong in either of these two groups. In North America, Borrelia spp. from both of the major clades are important pathogens of veterinary and public health concern. Lyme disease is of particular interest because the incidence in the northeastern United States continues to increase in both dogs and humans. Birds have a potentially important role in the ecology of Borrelia species because they are hosts for numerous tick vectors and competent hosts for various Borrelia spp. Our goal was to investigate the prevalence of Borrelia spp. in four free-living species of upland game birds in Pennsylvania, USA including wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus), ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus), and American woodcock (Scolopax minor). We tested 205 tissue samples (bone marrow and/or spleen samples) from 169 individuals for Borrelia using a flagellin gene (flab) nested PCR, which amplifies all Borrelia species. We detected Borrelia DNA in 12% (24/205) of samples, the highest prevalence was in wild turkeys (16%; 5/31), followed by ruffed grouse (13%; 16/126) and American woodcock (3%; 1/35). All pheasants (n = 13) were negative. We sequenced amplicons from all positive game birds and all were B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. Our results support previous work indicating that certain species of upland game birds are commonly infected with Borrelia species, but unlike previous studies, we did not find any relapsing fever borreliae.</jats:p>

Active and passive disease surveillance in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) from 2008 to 2018 in Pennsylvania, USA

“…We molecularly tested spleen and bone marrow samples for infection with Borrelia spp. using a nested PCR targeting the flagellin gene that amplifies DNA from all Borrelia spp., including B. burgdorferi and B. miyamotoi , both of which have been reported in wild turkeys (Cleveland et al 2020). The amplicons were sequenced from all positive samples to identify the species of Borrelia .…”

Human and Veterinary Vaccines for Lyme Disease

“…Another recent study screened 205 tissue samples from the bone marrow or spleen of 169 individual upland game birds for B. burgdorferi DNA. Amplicons were obtained from 12% of the samples tested with the highest prevalence in wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) (Cleveland et al, 2020).…”

The Impact of Tick-Borne Diseases on the Bone

“…B. burgdorferi has been detected in the bone marrow of dogs, birds, mice and humans [ 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 ], and bone pain, erosion at articular surfaces, osteomyelitis and osteopenia have been reported [ 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 , 96 , 97 ]. B. burgdorferi infection in mice causes trabecular bone loss due to inhibition of bone apposition rather than bone resorption [ 86 ].…”