Association of Borrelia garinii and B. valaisiana with Songbirds in Slovakia

Authors

Klara Hanincova, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London W2 1PG
Veronika Taragelova, Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Science, 81364 Bratislava
Juraj Koci, Department of Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Trnava, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia
Stefanie M. Schafer, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London W2 1PG
Rosie Hails, NERC Centre of Ecology and Hydrology, Oxford OX 1 3SR
Amy J. Ullmann, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522
Joseph Piesman, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado 80522
Milan Labuda, Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Science, 81364 Bratislava
Klaus Kurtenbach, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London W2 1PG

Date of this Version

5-2003

Comments

Published in APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY, May 2003, p. 2825–2830.

Abstract

In Europe, 6 of the 11 genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato are prevalent in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks. In most parts of Central Europe, B. afzelii, B. garinii, and B. valaisiana are the most frequent species, whereas B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. bissettii, and B. lusitaniae are rare. Previously, it has been shown that B. afzelii is associated with European rodents. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify reservoir hosts of B. garinii and B. valaisiana in Slovakia. Songbirds were captured in a woodland near Bratislava and investigated for engorged ticks. Questing I. ricinus ticks were collected in the same region. Both tick pools were analyzed for spirochete infections by PCR, followed by DNA-DNA hybridization and, for a subsample, by nucleotide sequencing. Three of the 17 captured songbird species were infested with spirochete-infected ticks. Spirochetes in ticks that had fed on birds were genotyped as B. garinii and B. valaisiana, whereas questing ticks were infected with B. afzelii, B. garinii, and B. valaisiana. Furthermore, identical ospA alleles of B. garinii were found in ticks that had fed on the birds and in questing ticks. The data show that songbirds are reservoir hosts of B. garinii and B. valaisiana but not of B. afzelii. This and previous studies confirm that B. burgdorferi sensu lato is host associated and that this bacterial species complex contains different ecotypes.