Borrelia spp. in small mammals in Romania

Autor: Zsuzsa Kalmár, Attila Dávid Sándor, Ioana Adriana Matei, Angela Ionică, Gianluca D’Amico, Călin Mircea Gherman, Andrei Daniel Mihalca
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2019
Předmět:
Zdroj: Parasites & Vectors, Vol 12, Iss 1, Pp 1-6 (2019)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1756-3305
DOI: 10.1186/s13071-019-3713-3
Popis: Abstract Background Small mammals play an important role in the life-cycle of ticks and are reservoirs for several zoonotic pathogens. The aim of this study was to provide epidemiological data regarding the presence of Borrelia spp. in tissues of small mammals from Romania. Methods We examined 401 individuals belonging to 11 small mammal species collected in Romania. Collections cover the largest effort to survey these reservoirs in the country. Tissue samples were analyzed by multiplex qPCR targeting the ospA gene of Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.) and a part of the flaB gene of B. miyamotoi. Positive samples were further analysed by conventional PCR and sequenced. Results The overall prevalence of infection with Borrelia spp. in small mammal tissues was 4.9%. The most commonly detected species were B. afzelii, followed by B. garinii/B. bavariensis, B. miyamotoi and B. burgdorferi (s.s.). To our knowledge, we report for the first time the detection of Borrelia spp. in Crocidura leucodon and C. suaveolens, and B. miyamotoi in the liver of Myodes glareolus. Conclusions To our knowledge, our study evaluates for the first time the occurrence of Borrelia spp. in small mammals in Romania, contributing to a better knowledge of the distribution of these bacteria. This survey upgrades previous data on the spatial distribution of the pathogens and reveals the importance of animal surveillance regarding Lyme borreliosis and relapsing fever caused by B. miyamotoi.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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