The woodmouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) as a reservoir of tick-transmitted spirochetes (Borrelia burgdorferi) in the Netherlands

Identification of a New Borrelia Species among Small Mammals in Areas of Northern Spain Where Lyme Disease Is Endemic

“…The method for detection of R57 developed in this study will enable us to complete the study of the ecology of this agent. Small mammals have been described as important B. burgdorferi sensu lato reservoir hosts in Europe (30), but in contrast to the situation described for other European studies (21,41,48,58,59,78), small mammals of different species were found to be infected just occasionally by B. burgdorferi sensu lato in this study. The prevalence of the infection by B. burgdorferi sensu lato was very low (0.5%; 1 of 184), even considering prevalence only in A. sylvaticus (0.8%; 1 of 130).…”

“…Small mammals have been described as important reservoir hosts for B. burgdorferi sensu lato (21,30,41,48,58,59,78). However, in this study only one isolate (R57) was obtained from a C. glareolus EPB among the 108 animals processed by culture.…”

“…Moreover, B. lusitaniae has been isolated recently from a skin biopsy of a patient with a chronic skin lesion (18). In different European studies, small mammals (rodents and shrews) are the most important reservoir hosts for the Lyme disease agent (21,30,41,48,58,59,78), but birds can also play this role (39,46,61,68).…”

Incidence and hospitalisation rates of Lyme borreliosis, France, 2004 to 2012

“…Important competent reservoirs of B. burgdorferi s.l. in Europe are rodents, such as Apodemus mice and voles; insectivores, such as shrews and hedgehogs; hares; and several bird species, including migratory birds (Aeschlimann et al, 1986;Hovmark et al, 1988;Gern et al, 1991;Matuschka et al, 1992;De Boer et al, 1993;Olsen et al, 1993;Tälleklint & Jaenson, 1993Gray et al, 1994;Ciceroni et al, 1996;Jaenson & Tälleklint, 1996;Craine et al, 1997;Gern et al, 1998;Kurtenbach et al, 1998aKurtenbach et al, , 1998bZeman & Januska, 1999;Zore et al, 1999;Gylfe et al, 2000). Small mammals, which often are reservoir-competent hosts, are mainly infested by larval ticks, to a lesser extent by nymphs, but rarely by adult ticks.…”

The wild life of tick-borne pathogens

“…We recommend future studies to test a combination of multiple tissues and engorged ticks to get the best possible estimate of infection prevalence of hosts with B. burgdorferi. For species that are able to transmit B. burgdorferi, xenodiagnosis using I. ricinus larvae will further increase the accuracy of infection prevalence estimates 137 .…”