Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in Ticks Collected from Migratory Birds in Switzerland

Abstract

The prevalence of ticks infected by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato on birds during their migrations was studied in Switzerland. A total of 1,270 birds captured at two sites were examined for tick infestation. Ixodes ricinus was the dominant tick species. Prevalences of tick infestation were 6% and 18.2% for birds migrating northward and southward, respectively. Borrelia valaisiana was the species detected most frequently in ticks, followed by Borrelia garinii and Borrelia lusitaniae. Among birds infested by infected ticks, 23% (6/26) were infested by B. lusitaniae-infected larvae. Migratory birds appear to be reservoir hosts for B. lusitaniae.

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

“…was detected in 35% of nymphs removed from birds (Kipp et al 2006). Similar results were reported from Czech Republic (Dubska et al 2009) and Switzerland (Poupon et al 2006), where Borrelia spp. prevalence in birdderived nymphs was 31.4%, and 34.6%, respectively.…”

“…Birds can carry ticks infected by such tick-borne pathogens as tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) (Waldenstrom et al 2007), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Alekseev et al 2001, Bjoersdorff et al 2001, Daniels et al 2002, Franke et al 2010a and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) (Olsen et al 1995, Gylfe et al 2000, Hanincova et al 2003b, Poupon et al 2006, Franke et al 2010a.…”

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

“…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).…”

Evaluation of a modified culture medium for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

“…B. burgdorferi s.s. (NE4502), B. garinii (NE4546) and B. afzelii (NE4505) were obtained from free-living I. ricinus ticks collected in Switzerland. Strains were identified to species level by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis as previously described (Postic et al 1994) or by reverse line blot (Poupon et al 2006). Inoculum volumes of each strain were determined, using the counting chamber, for a final concentration in the fresh media of 1.5 x 10 4 spirochetes/ml.…”