The prevalence of infection with Ehrlichiae of the Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup (the granulocytic Ehrlichiae), in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks of U.K. upland and woodland habitats, was investigated by PCR. The prevalence of infection in the three feeding stages of I. ricinus indicated that granulocytic Ehrlichiae are transmitted transstadially with no, or inefficient, transovarial transmission. The presence of infected ticks in both habitats indicates that endemic cycles of granulocytic Ehrlichia (GE) infection are maintained by both domesticated sheep and by wild reservoirs, and coexist with endemic cycles of Borrelia burgdorferi infection. Moreover, demonstration, for the first time, of GE infection in engorged Ixodes trianguliceps ticks and blood collected from wild rodents, suggests that European wild rodents are competent reservoirs. GE infection prevalence in nymphal and adult I. ricinus was significantly greater in uplands than woodlands, which is consistent with ticks of all three feeding stages feeding on reservoir-competent sheep in uplands. In one woodland studied, pheasants are important hosts for nymphal I. ricinus but are incompetent or inefficient reservoirs, so reducing GE infection prevalence in I. ricinus ticks in this habitat. 16S rRNA sequences of GE from ticks of these U.K. habitats, showed a high degree of homology with those of granulocytic Ehrlichiae isolated from humans, but also showed some evidence of genetic diversity of granulocytic ehrlichiae in the U.K. The implications of these findings, for the taxonomy of granulocytic ehrlichiae and the potential for human infections to occur in the U.K., is discussed.

The minimum inhibitory concentrations of tylosin tartrate and a new macrolid antimicrobial agent, tilmicosin, were assessed for six strains of Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) and three strains of Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) in vitro by the microbroth method. For four of the strains of MG, tilmicosin showed a slightly lower minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) than did tylosin at both the initial reading (when pH 7.0 is first seen in the dilutions under test) and the final reading at 14 days of incubation. For one of the remaining strains, the MIC for tilmicosin was equal to or less than that for tylosin at the initial reading but greater at the final reading. For the other strain, the MIC for tilmicosin was greater than for tylosin, and for both of them the MICs were very much higher than for other strains. For the three strains of MS, there was little difference between the two drugs for one strain whereas the MIC for tilmicosin was slightly less for the other two groups. Groups of 30 chicks were infected with a virulent strain of MG and treated with either tylosin (0.5 g/liter) or tilmicosin (at concentrations of 0.125, 0.25 or 0.5 g/liter). One infected group was untreated and another group was uninfected and untreated. Clinical signs, mainly depression and nervous signs, were seen in two to five birds in the infected treated groups. In contrast, in the infected untreated group, 16 of 30 birds showed clinical signs. Mortality was significantly less in the infected treated groups compared with the infected untreated group (P < 0.001), and following infection there were significantly (P < 0.05) greater weight gains in the infected medicated groups. At necropsy the prevalence of gross lesions of the airsac walls was similar in all the infected medicated groups and was less than that for the infected unmedicated group. For the group on tylosin, MG was recovered from five chicks during life and from six dead chicks. The corresponding figures for the group receiving the lowest dose of tilmicosin were four for each; however, the organism was not recovered from the groups on the higher doses of tilmicosin either during life or from dead chicks. Serological results were negative for all groups except the infected untreated group, in which all three birds that were tested were positive.

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