Migratory Passerine Birds as Reservoirs of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe

Comstedt, Pär; Bergström, Sven; Olsén, Björn; Garpmo, Ulf; Marjavaara, Lisette; Mejlon, Hans; Barbour, Alan G.; Bunikis, Jonas

doi:10.3201/eid1207.060127

Cited by 176 publications

(232 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

195

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Our finding that all four rooted clonal complexes of B. burgdorferi had ancestral genotypes found exclusively in coastal sites of the Northeast US is compatible with the explanation that if B. burgdorferi migrated from Europe to the US, it would have first arrived in the northeast and spread westward into its current range from there. It is unknown how B. burgdorferi might have been transported across the Atlantic before the arrival of Europeans in the New World, but it has been found in birds on both continents (46,47).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeography of Borrelia burgdorferi in the eastern United States reflects multiple independent Lyme disease emergence events

Hoen

Margos

Bent

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

151

179

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since its first description in coastal Connecticut in 1976, both the incidence of Lyme disease and the geographic extent of endemic areas in the US have increased dramatically. The rapid expansion of Lyme disease into its current distribution in the eastern half of the US has been due to the range expansion of the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, upon which the causative agent, Borrelia burgdorferi is dependent for transmission to humans. In this study, we examined the phylogeographic population structure of B. burgdorferi throughout the range of I. scapularis-borne Lyme disease using multilocus sequence typing based on bacterial housekeeping genes. We show that B. burgdorferi populations from the Northeast and Midwest are genetically distinct, but phylogenetically related. Our findings provide strong evidence of prehistoric population size expansion and east-to-west radiation of descendent clones from founding sequence types in the Northeast. Estimates of the time scale of divergence of northeastern and midwestern populations suggest that B. burgdorferi was present in these regions of North America many thousands of years before European settlements. We conclude that B. burgdorferi populations have recently reemerged independently out of separate relict foci, where they have persisted since precolonial times.geography ͉ phylogeny ͉ ticks ͉ multilocus sequence typing

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeography of Borrelia burgdorferi in the eastern United States reflects multiple independent Lyme disease emergence events

Hoen

Margos

Bent

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

151

179

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A large-scale study from southeastern Sweden showed a 19.3% prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. in nymphs collected from birds (Comstedt et al 2006). In contrast, data from Central Europe showed higher B. burgdorferi s.l.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are several studies reporting the presence of B. afzelii in bird-feeding ticks (Humair et al 1998, Comstedt et al 2006, Kipp et al 2006, Poupon et al 2006, Taragel'ova et al 2008, Franke et al 2010b), although B. afzelii is regarded to be a rodent-associated genospecies in Europe (Humair et al 1999, Hanincova et al 2003a). It has been previously shown that birds do not serve as adequate reservoirs for B. afzelii, and furthermore, that the uptake of avian blood initiates the elimination of B. afzelii in the tick (Kurtenbach et al 2002).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ticks Feeding on Migratory Passerines in Western Part of Estonia

Geller

Nazarova

Katargina

et al. 2013

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

During southward migration in the years [2006][2007][2008][2009] 178 migratory passerines of 24 bird species infested with ticks were captured at bird stations in Western Estonia. In total, 249 nymphal ticks were removed and analyzed individually for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), and Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The majority of ticks were collected from Acrocephalus (58%), Turdus (13%), Sylvia (8%), and Parus (6%) bird species. Tick-borne pathogens were detected in nymphs removed from Acrocephalus, Turdus, and Parus bird species. TBEV of the European subtype was detected in 1 I. ricinus nymph removed from A. palustris. B. burgdorferi s.l. DNA was found in 11 ticks (4.4%) collected from Turdus and Parus species. Birdassociated B. garinii and B. valaisiana were detected in I. ricinus nymphs removed from T. merula. Rodentassociated B. afzelii was detected in 3 I. ricinus nymphs from 2 P. major birds. One of the B. afzelii-positive nymphs was infected with a mix of 2 B. afzelii strains, whereas 1 of these strains was also detected in another nymph feeding on the same great tit. The sharing of the same B. afzelii strain by 2 nymphs indicates a possible transmission of B. afzelii by co-feeding on a bird. A. phagocytophilum DNA was detected in 1 I. ricinus nymph feeding on a T. iliacus. The results of the study confirm the possible role of migratory birds in the dispersal of ticks infected with tick-borne pathogens along the southward migration route via Estonia.

show abstract

“…The list of potential reservoir hosts is great and variable and includes species in classes Mammalia, Aves, and Reptilia (9,15). The worldwide distribution of B. burgdorferi sensu lato may be caused by long-distance dispersal of infected birds that serve as hosts for ticks (11,46,53).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Delineation of a New Species of the Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Complex, Borrelia americana sp. nov

Rudenko

Golovchenko

Lin³

et al. 2009

J Clin Microbiol

109

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Migratory Passerine Birds as Reservoirs of Lyme Borreliosis in Europe

Abstract: Birds host vector ticks and Borrelia species and vary in effectiveness as reservoirs.

Cited by 176 publications

References 36 publications

Phylogeography of Borrelia burgdorferi in the eastern United States reflects multiple independent Lyme disease emergence events

Phylogeography of Borrelia burgdorferi in the eastern United States reflects multiple independent Lyme disease emergence events

Tick-Borne Pathogens in Ticks Feeding on Migratory Passerines in Western Part of Estonia

Delineation of a New Species of the Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Complex, Borrelia americana sp. nov

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About