Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and tick-borne encephalitis virus in zoo animal species in the Czech Republic

Role of Zoo-Housed Animals in the Ecology of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens—A Review

“…On the other hand, tests for anti-TBEV antibodies among other zoo animals were mostly negative, according to previous Czech zoological research results [20]. In this research, only two seropositive samples were recorded out of 133 tested serum samples from 69 animal species: one from a markhor (Capra falconeri) and one from a reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), as confirmed by both enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and a neutralization test.…”

“…The tick species that belong to I. ricinus complex, which are predominant in Eurasian zoos and wildlife farms, i.e., I. ricinus and Ixodes persulcatus, are the primary vectors of Rickettsiales like Anaplasma phagocytophilum [47], tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) [20,48,49], Bartonella spp., Francisella tularensis, multiple Borrelia spp. [20,49,50] and Babesia spp. [49,51].…”

“…This is a factor that positively influences the life cycle of ticks and other ectoparasites [15][16][17][18]. That is why zoos are nowadays recognized as potential TBPs refugia [19][20][21][22]. Animal species kept in such refugia can therefore potentially serve as tick and TBPs reservoirs, allowing further propagation of TBPs within their local ecosystems.…”

“…More Amblyomma species were collected from animals kept in zoos located in Northern and Northwestern Brazil: A. dissimile, A. variatum, A. geayi, A. longirostre, A. goeldii, A. humerale, A. naponense or A. nodosum [29,30]. In Europe, Ixodes ricinus is the most common tick found in zoos and wildlife parks or farms [20,[31][32][33][34]. Nonindigenous tick species have been reported to feed on zoo animals, for example, the Asian tick, Amblyomma javanense, has been found on zoo-kept Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator) in South Carolina, USA [25].…”

Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Sheep, Romania

“…We used the IMMUNOZYM FSME (TBE) IgG All-Species kit (Progen GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany) ELISA to detect TBE virus antibodies. We retested samples exhibiting ≥25 Vienna units/mL by using virus neutralization test (VNT) as described previously ( 6 ). …”