Stable Transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Stricto on the Outer Banks of North Carolina

Abstract

Summary The spirochaete (Borrelia burgdorferi) associated with Lyme disease was detected in questing ticks and rodents during a period of 18 years, 1991–2009, at five locations on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) was collected at varied intervals between 1991 and 2009 and examined for B. burgdorferi. The white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus), house mouse (Mus musculus) marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris), marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris), eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) and six-lined racerunner (Cnemidophorus sexlineatus) were live-trapped, and their tissues cultured to isolate spirochaetes. Borrelia burgdorferi isolates were obtained from questing adult I. scapularis and engorged I. scapularis removed from P. leucopus, O. palustris and S. floridanus. The prevalence of B. burgdorferi infection was variable at different times and sites ranging from 7 to 14% of examined questing I. scapularis. Mitochondrial (16S) rRNA gene phylogenetic analysis from 65 adult I. scapularis identified 12 haplotypes in two major clades. Nine haplotypes were associated with northern/Midwestern I. scapularis populations and three with southern I. scapularis populations. Sixteen isolates obtained from tick hosts in 2005 were confirmed to be B. burgdorferi by amplifying and sequencing of 16S rRNA and 5S–23S intergenic spacer fragments. The sequences had 98–99% identity to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strains B31, JD1 and M11p. Taken together, these studies indicate that B. burgdorferi sensu stricto is endemic in questing I. scapularis and mammalian tick hosts on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

Canine infection with Dirofilaria immitis, Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma spp., and Ehrlichia spp. in the United States, 2013–2019

“…Canine infection with B. burgdorferi remains widespread, with antibodies detected in 5.1% of dogs in the present study overall and 12.1% of dogs in the Northeast. Significant increases in percent positive test results were evident in some areas of the upper South, including West Virginia and North Carolina, consistent with other reports of geographic spread of the maintenance cycle for this pathogen [ 10 , 13 , 31 ]. At the same time, decreased statewide seroprevalence of antibodies to B. burgdorferi, in some cases by more than 40%, was evident in several states where Lyme disease has long been endemic or hyperendemic, including Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland (Table 2 ), a trend that has been previously reported [ 10 ].…”

Prevention of transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum by Ixodes spp. ticks to dogs treated with the Seresto® collar (imidacloprid 10% + flumethrin 4.5%)

“…Study 2 showed far higher infection rates in the nontreated animals (ten of ten for Bbsl, ten of ten for Ap) than study 1, which corresponds with the far higher infection rates found in the study ticks from the USA compared to the study ticks from Germany (Bbsl infection rate, 54% [USA] vs. up to 33% [Germany]; Ap infection rate, 12% [USA] vs. up to 5% [Germany]). Field data for B. burgdorferi in I. scapularis from the USA ranges from 7 to 52.1% (Levine et al 2017;Serra et al 2013;Schulze et al 2013;Hamer et al 2014). For Ap, field data from collected ticks in the USA ranges from 3.7 to 20% (Hamer et al 2014;Prusinski et al 2014;Roellig and Fang 2012).…”

Increasing Prevalence ofBorrelia burgdorferisensu stricto–Infected Blacklegged Ticks in Tennessee Valley, Tennessee, USA

“…In the United States, Lyme disease is primarily a summertime disease associated with bites from nymphal I. scapularis ticks. In southern states, detection of B. burgdorferi bacteria in adult ticks does not necessarily imply risk to humans; for example, B. burgdorferi cycles in I. scapularis populations on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, yet nymphs in that area cannot be collected on drag-cloths and no locally acquired cases of Lyme disease have been reported ( 13 ). In contrast, infected nymphs have been found on drag-cloths from surveys in Virginia, where Lyme disease incidence has spiked ( 14 ).…”