Borrelia burgdorferi sensu latoin ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) from two different foci in Spain

✍ Scribed by A. Estrada-Peña; J. A. Oteo; R. Estrada-Peña; C. Gortázar; J. J. Osácar; J. A. Moreno; J. Castellá

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 447 KB
• Volume: 19
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0168-8162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00046289

✦ Synopsis

The prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in several tick species was studied over a 2 year period in two ecologically different areas in Spain. One area was an endemic area for Lyme disease, with a number of autochthonous human cases and supported large populations oflxodes ricinus on cattle and birds; the second area was characterized by the absence of/. ricinus together with the presence of foxes and their associated tick species. While I. ricinus was the main vector of B. burgdoreri in the endemic area (with a mean prevalence of 14% in adults and 51% in nymphs), adults of both Ixodes canisuga and lxodes hexagonus had high rates of B. burgdorferi prevalence (30 and 28%, respectively) in the zone where I. ricinus was absent. Immatures of Ixodesfrontalis were found to be carriers of the spirochete only in those zones where/, ricinus is present, suggesting evidence for reservoir competence in a tick-bird cycle.