Dataset Information

The prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi infection, and co-infections with other Borrelia spp. in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Canada.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis are vectors of the tick-borne pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti. Recently, the I. scapularis-borne bacterium Borrelia miyamotoi has been linked to human illness in North America. The range of this tick is expanding in Canada which may increase the potential for human exposure to these agents. METHODS: In this study, 4938 I. scapularis ticks collected in 2012 were tested following a newly developed PCR-based testing protocol to determine the prevalence of infection with B. miyamotoi and other pathogens in I. scapularis in Canada. RESULTS: Borrelia miyamotoi was detected in blacklegged ticks from all provinces except Newfoundland, although the infection prevalence was low (<1%). There was significant variation among provinces in the prevalence of infection of ticks with B. burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum, but not with B. miyamotoi. CONCLUSIONS: Given the widespread distribution of B. miyamotoi, infection due to this agent should be considered in patients who have been exposed to blacklegged ticks in Canada.

SUBMITTER: Dibernardo A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4001108 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi infection, and co-infections with other Borrelia spp. in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Canada.

Dibernardo Antonia A Cote Tyler T Ogden Nicholas H NH Lindsay L Robbin LR

Parasites & vectors 20140415

<h4>Background</h4>Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis are vectors of the tick-borne pathogens Borrelia burgdorferi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti. Recently, the I. scapularis-borne bacterium Borrelia miyamotoi has been linked to human illness in North America. The range of this tick is expanding in Canada which may increase the potential for human exposure to these agents.<h4>Methods</h4>In this study, 4938 I. scapularis ticks collected in 2012 were tested following a newly dev ...[more]

PMID: 24731287

Similar Datasets

Project description:Borrelia miyamotoi is a relapsing fever spirochete transmitted by ticks in the Ixodes ricinus complex. In the eastern United States, B. miyamotoi is transmitted by I. scapularis, which also vectors several other pathogens including B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. In contrast to Lyme borreliae, B. miyamotoi can be transmitted vertically from infected female ticks to their progeny. Therefore, in addition to nymphs and adults, larvae can vector B. miyamotoi to wildlife and human hosts. Two widely varying filial infection prevalence (FIP) estimates - 6% and 73% - have been reported previously from two vertically infected larval clutches; to our knowledge, no other estimates of FIP or transovarial transmission (TOT) rates for B. miyamotoi have been described in the literature. Thus, we investigated TOT and FIP of larval clutches derived from engorged females collected from hunter-harvested white-tailed deer in 2015 (n = 664) and 2016 (n = 599) from Maine, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. After engorged females oviposited in the lab, they (n = 492) were tested for B. miyamotoi infection by PCR. Subsequently, from each clutch produced by an infected female, larval pools, as well as 100 individual eggs or larvae, were tested. The TOT rate of the 11 infected females was 90.9% (95% CI; 57.1-99.5%) and the mean FIP of the resulting larval clutches was 84.4% (95% CI; 68.1-100%). Even though the overall observed vertical transmission rate (the product of TOT and FIP; 76.7%, 95% CI; 44.6-93.3%) was high, additional horizontal transmission may be required for enzootic maintenance of B. miyamotoi based on the results of a previously published deterministic model. Further investigation of TOT and FIP variability and the underlying mechanisms, both in nature and the laboratory, will be needed to resolve this question. Meanwhile, studies quantifying the acarological risk of Borrelia miyamotoi disease need to consider not only nymphs and adults, but larval I. scapularis as well.

Dataset Information

The prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi infection, and co-infections with other Borrelia spp. in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Canada.

Publications

The prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi infection, and co-infections with other Borrelia spp. in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Canada.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets