Prevalence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in humans from a Cuban village

Abstract

Methods: Serum specimens from 247 persons randomly selected from the population of the village were examined by IgG Western blot using B31 strain for estimating the prevalence of antibodies profile.Results: A seroprevalence value interval (95% CI) of 0.6%-7.2% was estimated for the studied population. The prevalent borrelial protein bands on immunoblots were 41, 72, 90/93, 34, 47, 60, 58, 56, 65/66 and 31 kDa in a decreasing order of significance. Conclusion:These results support the previous serological findings, suggesting the presence of this borreliosis in Cuba.

Serological detection of antibodies to Anaplasma spp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Ehrlichia canis and of Dirofilaria immitis antigen in dogs from Costa Rica

“…(Troyo et al, 2014 (Levy et al, 2008), so that even those dogs that had lived in the country for at least one year and had been infected before moving to Costa Rica could still produce a positive test result. A small question mark will remain, but as there are only two countries in the Central American region in which Lyme disease has been reported or debated (McCown and Grzeszak, 2010;Rodríguez et al, 2003bRodríguez et al, , 2004Rodríguez et al, , 2012a, we claim it is more likely for the dog in question to have been confronted with the pathogen outside Costa Rica.…”

“…In Honduras, three out of 12 feral cats showed a positive Indirect Fluorescent Antibody (IFA) test for Borrelia species (McCown and Grzeszak, 2010). In Cuba antiborrelial antibodies and clinical signs resembling Lyme disease have been detected in humans (Rodríguez et al, 2004(Rodríguez et al, , 2012a, but the existence of B. burgdorferi s.l. is still much debated (Dessau, 2012;Rodríguez et al, 2012b).…”

Upscaling the Surveillance of Tick-Borne Pathogens in the French Caribbean Islands

“…and borreliosis case reports in the Caribbean are scarce and still being debated. In Cuba, one study suggested the presence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in human sera associated with clinical cases of Lyme disease-like syndrome [48,49]. However, the real specificity of these serum antibodies has been questioned [50].…”

Borrelia Infection in Latin America

“…In Cuba, a serological survey using ELISA and WB rendered a seroprevalence of 2% to B.b.s.s. 38 . Serological diagnostic tests for LD have variable sensitivity and specificity, and a two-tiered serology protocol typically of an ELISA followed by a WB to detect serum IgM or IgG antibodies to B.b., is the only validated diagnostic approach for LD diagnosis 39 .…”