Lyme borreliosis: Europe-wide coordinated surveillance and action needed?

Smith, Robert; Takkinen, Johanna; team, Collective Editorial

doi:10.2807/esw.11.25.02977-en

Cited by 86 publications

(98 citation statements)

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“…About 1195 cases of Lyme borreliosis were reported from Norway during 1999-2005. The annual numbers of cases in both countries showed no clear trend over the period, but varied each year between 766 (20.7 per 100,000 inhabitants) and 3688 (105.6 per 100,000 inhabitants) in Lithuania and between 111 (2.4 per 100,000 inhabitants) and 280 (6.2 per 100,000 inhabitants) cases in Norway (Nygård et al, 2005;Smith et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity in prevalence and genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents in Lithuania and Norway

Paulauskas

Ambrasienė

Radzijevskaja

et al. 2008

International Journal of Medical Microbiology

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A total of 1679 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in Lithuania and 535 I. ricinus ticks collected in Norway from locations with different habitats were investigated for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. In Lithuania, 223 ticks (13.3%) were infected with B. burgdorferi s.l., and in Norway, 28 ticks (5.2%). The highest prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l was found in deciduous and mixed forests (19.4% in Lithuania, 8.6% in Norway). A lower prevalence was determined in pine forests (8.6% in Lithuania) and costal zones (4.3% in Norway), and the least prevalence was found in grasslands (2.5% in Lithuania, 1% in Norway). A total of 398 rodents belonging to 9 species were live-captured in Lithuania and Norway. Prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in rodents varied between species and sampling sites in both countries. In Lithuania, the prevalence of infection was higher in Microtus arvalis (range 25-57% in different sampling sites) and in Myodes glareolus (range 14-71%) than in Apodemus flavicollis (range 0-37%) and in A. agrarius (range 11-33%). In Norway, the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in rodents was lower (range from 5% in A. sylvaticus to 6% in A. flavicollis). B. afzelii was the predominant genospecies in ticks and rodents in Lithuania and Norway. In Lithuania, B. afzelii was found in 76%, B. garinii in 10%, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto in 7%, and Borrelia spp. in 6% of infected ticks. Double infections were observed in 1% of the infected ticks. In Norway, B. afzelii was found in 68%, B. garinii in 21%, and B. burgdorferi s.s. in 11% of infected ticks. All infected rodents from both countries hosted B. afzelii genospecies. Only the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) harbored both B. afzelii and B. burgdorferi s.s.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity in prevalence and genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents in Lithuania and Norway

Paulauskas

Ambrasienė

Radzijevskaja

et al. 2008

International Journal of Medical Microbiology

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“…This is the most prevalent vector-borne disease for humans in temperate zones of the northern hemisphere (2,45). Lyme disease is a multihost and multipathogen disease caused by different bacterial genospecies that belong to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex.…”

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confidence: 99%

Introduced Siberian Chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus barberi) Harbor More-Diverse Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Genospecies than Native Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus)

Marsot

Sigaud

Chapuis

et al. 2011

Appl Environ Microbiol

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Little attention has been given in scientific literature to how introduced species may act as a new host for native infectious agents and modify the epidemiology of a disease. In this study, we investigated whether an introduced species, the Siberian chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus barberi), was a potentially new reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme disease. First, we ascertained whether chipmunks were infected by all of the B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies associated with rodents and available in their source of infection, questing nymphs. Second, we determined whether the prevalence and diversity of B. burgdorferi sensu lato in chipmunks were similar to those of a native reservoir rodent, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus). Our research took place between 2006 and 2008 in a suburban French forest, where we trapped 335 chipmunks and 671 voles and collected 743 nymphs of ticks that were questing for hosts by dragging on the vegetation. We assayed for B. burgdorferi sensu lato with ear biopsy specimens taken from the rodents and in nymphs using PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Chipmunks were infected by the three Borrelia genospecies that were present in questing nymphs and that infect rodents (B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii, and B. garinii). In contrast, voles hosted only B. afzelii. Furthermore, chipmunks were more infected (35%) than voles (16%). These results may be explained by the higher exposure of chipmunks, because they harbor more ticks, or by their higher tolerance of other B. burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies than of B. afzelii. If chipmunks are competent reservoir hosts for B. burgdorferi sensu lato, they may spill back B. burgdorferi sensu lato to native communities and eventually may increase the risk of Lyme disease transmission to humans.

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“…These include pathogenic species of the complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the agent of Lyme borreliosis, the most prevalent vector-borne human disease in Europe (57); Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the agent of human and animal granulocytic anaplasmosis, considered to be an emerg-ing disease both in human and in animals (8,61); and Rickettsia helvetica of the spotted fever group, known to be responsible for nonspecific fevers in humans (28).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Factors Characterizing the Prevalence of Bacterial Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ixodes ricinus Ticks in Pastures and Woodlands

Halos

Bord

Cotté

et al. 2010

Appl Environ Microbiol

114

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Ecological changes are recognized as an important driver behind the emergence of infectious diseases. The prevalence of infection in ticks depends upon ecological factors that are rarely taken into account simultaneously. Our objective was to investigate the influences of forest fragmentation, vegetation, adult tick hosts, and habitat on the infection prevalence of three tick-borne bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Rickettsia sp. of the spotted fever group, in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks, taking into account tick characteristics. Samples of questing nymphs and adults were taken from 61 pastures and neighboring woodlands in central France. The ticks were tested by PCR of pools of nymphs and individual adults. The individual infection prevalence was modeled using multivariate regression. The highest infection prevalences were found in adult females collected in woodland sites for B. burgdorferi sensu lato and A. phagocytophilum (16.1% and 10.7%, respectively) and in pasture sites for Rickettsia sp. (8.7%). The infection prevalence in nymphs was lower than 6%. B. burgdorferi sensu lato was more prevalent in woodlands than in pastures. Forest fragmentation favored B. burgdorferi sensu lato and A. phagocytophilum prevalence in woodlands, and in pastures, the B. burgdorferi sensu lato prevalence was favored by shrubby vegetation. Both results are probably because large amounts of edges or shrubs increase the abundance of small vertebrates as reservoir hosts. The Rickettsia sp. prevalence was maximal on pasture with medium forest fragmentation. Female ticks were more infected by B. burgdorferi sensu lato than males and nymphs in woodland sites, which suggests an interaction between the ticks and the bacteria. This study confirms the complexity of the tick-borne pathogen ecology. The findings support the importance of small vertebrates as reservoir hosts and make a case for further studies in Europe on the link between the composition of the reservoir host community and the infection prevalence in ticks.

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Lyme borreliosis: Europe-wide coordinated surveillance and action needed?

Abstract: Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease) is an infection caused by the spirochete bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi

Cited by 86 publications

References 0 publications

Diversity in prevalence and genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents in Lithuania and Norway

Diversity in prevalence and genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents in Lithuania and Norway

Introduced Siberian Chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus barberi) Harbor More-Diverse Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Genospecies than Native Bank Voles (Myodes glareolus)

Ecological Factors Characterizing the Prevalence of Bacterial Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ixodes ricinus Ticks in Pastures and Woodlands

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