Zoonotic Peculiarities of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.: Vectors Competence and Vertebrate Host Specificity

Movila, Alexandru; Toderaş, Ion; Dubinina, Helen V.; Uspenskaia, Inga; Alekseev, Andrey N.

doi:10.5772/32690

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 97 publications

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“…The spirochetes are usually found in vertebrate organisms such as: small mammals (mice, goats, rabbits, rats, hamsters, rabbits, hedgehogs, squirrels, dormice, garden dormice), game (roe deer, deer, fallow deer), birds (blackbirds, trushes, guillemots, gulls, auks, wrens, pheasants, cormorants) as well as reptiles (lizards). Man is an incidental host for an infected nymph or adult tick [1,3,4,5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serological Research Towards Lyme Borreliosis in Hunters And Forestry Workers in Selected Areas of Poland and Ukraine

Tokarska-Rodak¹,

Shkilna²,

Plewik³

et al. 2017

hpc

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Authors' contribution Wkład autorów: A. Study design/planning zaplanowanie badań B. Data collection/entry zebranie danych C. Data analysis/statistics dane-analiza i statystyki D. Data interpretation interpretacja danych E. Preparation of manuscript przygotowanie artykułu F. Literature analysis/search wyszukiwanie i analiza literatury G. Funds collection zebranie funduszy Summary Background. The study aimed to analyse the prevalence of antibodies to specific Borrelia burgdorferi antigens in hunters from the area of Lublin Province (Poland) and forestry workers from the vicinity of Ternopil (Ukraine). Material and methods. The study group included 240 hunters, members of the hunting clubs in Lublin Province (Poland), aged 23-80 and 339 forestry workers employed in the 5 forest districts subordinated to the Ternopil Regional Administration of Forestry and Hunting, aged 18-76. All persons were given anti-B. burgdorferi IgM/IgG antibodies (ELISA test and Western blot). Results. Positive anti-B. burgdorferi IgM/IgG results were found in 21.7% of the hunters and 31.9% of the forestry workers. The occurrence of positive results in anti-B. burgdorferi antibodies depends significantly (p<0.02) on the area of the tested persons from Ukraine and was higher in the Berezhany district − 48.2% and the Buchach district − 47.5%. Conclusions. Because of the high exposure to tick bites and the possibility of B. burgdorferi infection, it is justified and desirable to strive to implement a full two-step diagnostic approach to Lyme disease in forestry workers in Ukraine. Further, it is particularly vital to undertake extensive educational and diagnostic activities, especially in the Berezhany and Buchach districts. Finally, it would be beneficial to implement systemic solutions in this regard also in hunters due to the ever-increasing number of this professional group each year.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serological Research Towards Lyme Borreliosis in Hunters And Forestry Workers in Selected Areas of Poland and Ukraine

Tokarska-Rodak¹,

Shkilna²,

Plewik³

et al. 2017

hpc

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Sensitivity of Lyme Borreliosis Spirochetes to Serum Complement of Regular Zoo Animals: Potential Reservoir Competence of Some Exotic Vertebrates

Tichá

Golovchenko

Oliver

et al. 2016

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

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Reaction of vertebrate serum complement with different Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species is used as a basis in determining reservoir hosts among domesticated and wild animals. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii were tested for their sensitivity to sera of exotic vertebrate species housed in five zoos located in the Czech Republic. We confirmed that different Borrelia species have different sensitivity to host serum. We found that tolerance to Borrelia infection possessed by hosts might differ among individuals of the same genera or species and is not affected by host age or sex. Of all zoo animals included in our study, carnivores demonstrated the highest apparent reservoir competency for Lyme borreliosis spirochetes. We showed that selected exotic ungulate species are tolerant to Borrelia infection. For the first time we showed the high tolerance of Siamese crocodile to Borrelia as compared to the other studied reptile species. While exotic vertebrates present a limited risk to the European human population as reservoirs for the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, cases of incidental spillover infection could lead to successful replication of the pathogens in a new host, changing the status of selected exotic species and their role in pathogen emergence or maintenance. The question if being tolerant to pathogen means to be a competent reservoir host still needs an answer, simply because the majority of exotic animals might never be exposed to spirochetes in their natural environment.

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Diversity and host specificity of Borrelia burgdorferi ’s outer surface protein C ( ospC ) alleles in synanthropic mammals, with a notable ospC allele U absence from mixed infections

Shifflett,

Ferreira,

González

et al. 2024

Infect Immun

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Interactions among pathogen genotypes that vary in host specificity may affect overall transmission dynamics in multi-host systems. Borrelia burgdorferi , a bacterium that causes Lyme disease, is typically transmitted among wildlife by Ixodes ticks. Despite the existence of many alleles of B. burgdorferi ’s sensu stricto outer surface protein C ( ospC ) gene, most human infections are caused by a small number of ospC alleles [“human infectious alleles” (HIAs)], suggesting variation in host specificity associated with ospC . To characterize the wildlife host association of B. burgdorferi ’s ospC alleles, we used metagenomics to sequence ospC alleles from 68 infected individuals belonging to eight mammalian species trapped at three sites in suburban New Brunswick, New Jersey (USA). We found that multiple allele (“mixed”) infections were common. HIAs were most common in mice ( Peromyscus spp.) and only one HIA was detected at a site where mice were rarely captured. ospC allele U was exclusively found in chipmunks ( Tamias striatus ), and although a significant number of different alleles were observed in chipmunks, including HIAs, allele U never co-occurred with other alleles in mixed infections. Our results suggest that allele U may be excluding other alleles, thereby reducing the capacity of chipmunks to act as reservoirs for HIAs.

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Zoonotic Peculiarities of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.: Vectors Competence and Vertebrate Host Specificity

Cited by 3 publications

References 97 publications

Serological Research Towards Lyme Borreliosis in Hunters And Forestry Workers in Selected Areas of Poland and Ukraine

Serological Research Towards Lyme Borreliosis in Hunters And Forestry Workers in Selected Areas of Poland and Ukraine

Sensitivity of Lyme Borreliosis Spirochetes to Serum Complement of Regular Zoo Animals: Potential Reservoir Competence of Some Exotic Vertebrates

Diversity and host specificity of Borrelia burgdorferi ’s outer surface protein C ( ospC ) alleles in synanthropic mammals, with a notable ospC allele U absence from mixed infections

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