Prevalence of Lyme Borrelia in <i>Ixodes persulcatus</i> Ticks from an Area with a Confirmed Case of Lyme Disease

Abstract

ABSTRACT. In this study, the prevalence of Borrelia infections in Ixodes ticks from a site in Hokkaido, Japan, with confirmed cases of Lyme disease was determined by a PCR method capable of detecting and differentiating between strains of pathogenic Borrelia, with particular emphasis on Borrelia garinii (B. garinii) and Borrelia afzelli (B. afzelli), using tick-derived DNA extracts as template. A total of 338 ticks, inclusive of 284 Ixodes persulcatus (I. persulcatus), were collected by flagging vegetation in mid-spring. Ninety-eight (34.5%) of I. persulcatus tested positive for Borrelia species DNA, whereas the overall prevalence of Borrelia species in Ixodes ovatus and Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks was 19.5 and 7.7%, respectively. PCR-RFLP and sequence analysis of Borrelia rrf(5S)-rrl(23S) intergenic spacer DNA amplicons indicated that they originated from three different Borrelia species namely, B. garinii, B. afzelii and B. japonica. Among the I. persulcatus species, which is a known vector of human borreliosis, 86 were mono-infected with B. garinii, 2 ticks were mono-infected with B. afzelii and whereas 12 ticks had dual infections. Most significant, 11 of the I. persulcatus ticks were coinfected with Anaplasma phagocytophilum and B. garinii. The difference between the number of obtained and expected co-infections was significant (χ 2 =4.32, P=0.038).

Is there a Lyme-like disease in Australia? Summary of the findings to date

“…Similar to I. holocyclus , H. longicornis parasitises a large number of hosts in Australia including but not limited to cattle, sheep, horses, dogs, cats, hares, domestic fowls, Australian magpies and marsupials [26], but only rarely bites humans [26]. The detection of B. burgdorferi s. l. in H. longicornis ticks of Japan [65] and China [3] supports the possibility that H. longicornis could carry Lyme Borreliosis in Australia.…”

Large erythema migrans lesion in Lyme disease

“…Physicians in endemic areas should carefully examine patients after tick bites because many cases of Lyme disease may be undiagnosed. The prevalence of Borrelia infection in Ixodes persulcatus ticks was 34.5% in Hokkaido, Japan, similar to that in Finland . Although the incidence of Lyme disease is more than 50 cases per 100 000 population per year in Finland, only five cases were reported in 2018 in Hokkaido (0.1 cases per 100 000 population per year) …”

Epidemiological Features and Clinical Manifestations of Lyme Borreliosis in Korea during the Period 2005^|^ndash;2012

“…The results of the present study are significant from the perspective of elucidating the epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis in Korea. The reason for the frequent infection of patients in the northeast region is unclear; however, studies conducted in China and Japan (3)(4)(5)(6) suggest that the distribution of Ixodes persulcatus, the taiga tick, could play a role in this phenomenon. Accordingly, this tick has been detected mainly in the northeastern alpine region of Korea, where the cool climatic conditions provide a suitable habitat for this vector (17)(18)(19)(20).…”

“…In Europe, the disease has been reported in forested areas, particularly in Sweden, Germany, Austria, and Slovenia (2). The disease has also been widely reported in Asian countries such as China (3,4) and Japan (5,6). Although several cases of Lyme borreliosis have been reported in Korea (7)(8)(9)(10), information on the overall epidemiological characteristics and clinical manifestations of the disease in Korea is not available.…”