Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi in Laboratory-Reared Ixodes dammini (Acari: Ixodidae) Fed on Experimentally Inoculated White-Tailed Deer

Abstract

Larvae and nymphs of Ixodes dammini Spielman, Piesman, Clifford & Corwin from a laboratory colony were fed on two white-tailed deer, Odocoileus virginianus (Zimmerman) inoculated with either the SH2-82 or JD-1 strains of Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner. Ticks were exposed to one deer 43 and 69 d after inoculation of the spirochete and to a second deer 35 and 61 d after inoculation. Polymerase chain reaction assays amplified the 158 bp OspA DNA target sequence in 11.1% (n = 9) of fed larvae and 3.3% (n = 30) of nymphs from the deer inoculated with the SH2-82 strain, and 22.7% (n = 22) of larvae and 0% (n = 21) of nymphs from a second deer inoculated with the JD-1 strain of B. burgdorferi. One of three females derived from nymphs fed on one of the inoculated deer showed presence of B. burgdorferi DNA, but none of four males was positive. Experimentally inoculated deer can serve as a source of at least two geographic strains of B. burgdorferi to I. dammini larvae and nymphs for at least several weeks.

Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks in relation to the density of wild cervids

“…The overall infection rates in ticks were 33.3% in 2006, 6.9% in 2007 and 5.2% in 2008. The capacity of deer to act as reservoirs for B. burgdorferi s.l., is controversial [33,34]. However, our results clearly support the idea that wild cervids are incompetent reservoirs.…”

Complement‐Mediated Killing of Borrelia garinii —Bactericidal Activity of Wild Deer Serum

“…Ixodes ticks were obtained from wild sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis Heude, 1884) and the midgut was cultured in Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly (BSK) medium (2) previously described (6 can serve as a source of at least two geographic strains of B. burgdorferi to I. dammini larvae and nymphs for at least several weeks (14). Our results presented here do not settle the controversy as to whether sika deer serve as reservoirs for B. burgdorferi complex.…”

“…Lane et al (12) suggest that additional studies are needed to determine more precisely the reservoir competence of white-tailed deer for B. burgdorferi. Recently, Oliver et al (14) reported that experimentally inoculated deer can serve as a source of B. burgdorferito Ixodes dammini larvae and nymphs for at least several weeks.…”

Heterogeneity in the abundance and distribution of Ixodes ricinus and Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) in Scotland: implications for risk prediction

“…Deer are generally considered not to transmit B. burgdorferi ( s.l. ) [25, 26] and deer sera has been found to be borreliacidal [27]; however some studies suggest potential for co-feeding transmission [28, 29]. Deer provide blood meals to ticks and are important in many areas as tick reproduction hosts, feeding reproductively active adult female ticks [30].…”