40
views
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
1 collections
    0
    shares
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Borrelia Diversity and Co-infection with Other Tick Borne Pathogens in Ticks

      research-article

      Read this article at

      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Identifying Borrelia burgdorferi as the causative agent of Lyme disease in 1981 was a watershed moment in understanding the major impact that tick-borne zoonoses can have on public health worldwide, particularly in Europe and the USA. The medical importance of tick-borne diseases has long since been acknowledged, yet little is known regarding the occurrence of emerging tick-borne pathogens such as Borrelia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., “ Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis”, and tick-borne encephalitis virus in questing ticks in Romania, a gateway into Europe. The objective of our study was to identify the infection and co-infection rates of different Borrelia genospecies along with other tick-borne pathogens in questing ticks collected from three geographically distinct areas in eastern Romania. We collected 557 questing adult and nymph ticks of three different species (534 Ixodes ricinus, 19 Haemaphysalis punctata, and 4 Dermacentor reticulatus) from three areas in Romania. We analyzed ticks individually for the presence of eight different Borrelia genospecies with high-throughput real-time PCR. Ticks with Borrelia were then tested for possible co-infections with A. phagocytophilum, Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp., “ Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis”, and tick-borne encephalitis virus. Borrelia spp. was detected in I. ricinus ticks from all sampling areas, with global prevalence rates of 25.8%. All eight Borrelia genospecies were detected in I. ricinus ticks: Borrelia garinii (14.8%), B. afzelii (8.8%), B. valaisiana (5.1%), B. lusitaniae (4.9%), B. miyamotoi (0.9%), B. burgdorferi s.s (0.4%), and B. bissettii (0.2%). Regarding pathogen co-infection 64.5% of infected I. ricinus were positive for more than one pathogen. Associations between different Borrelia genospecies were detected in 9.7% of ticks, and 6.9% of I. ricinus ticks tested positive for co-infection of Borrelia spp. with other tick-borne pathogens. The most common association was between B. garinii and B. afzelii (4.3%), followed by B. garinii and B. lusitaniae (3.0%). The most frequent dual co-infections were between Borrelia spp. and Rickettsia spp., (1.3%), and between Borrelia spp. and “ Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis” (1.3%). The diversity of tick-borne pathogens detected in this study and the frequency of co-infections should influence all infection risk evaluations following a tick bite.

          Related collections

          Most cited references59

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: not found

          Genotypic identification of rickettsiae and estimation of intraspecies sequence divergence for portions of two rickettsial genes.

          DNA sequences from specific genes, amplified by the polymerase chain reaction technique, were used as substrata for nonisotopic restriction endonuclease fragment length polymorphism differentiation of rickettsial species and genotypes. The products amplified using a single pair of oligonucleotide primers (derived from a rickettsial citrate synthase gene sequence) and cleaved with restriction endonucleases were used to differentiate almost all recognized species of rickettsiae. A second set of primers was used for differentiation of all recognized species of closely related spotted fever group rickettsiae. The procedure circumvents many technical obstacles previously associated with identification of rickettsial species. Multiple amplified DNA digest patterns were used to estimate the intraspecies nucleotide sequence divergence for the genes coding for rickettsial citrate synthase and a large antigen-coding gene of the spotted fever group rickettsiae. The estimated relationships deduced from these genotypic data correlate reasonably well with established rickettsial taxonomic schemes.
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            Coinfection by Ixodes Tick-Borne Pathogens: Ecological, Epidemiological, and Clinical Consequences.

            Ixodes ticks maintain a large and diverse array of human pathogens in the enzootic cycle, including Borrelia burgdorferi and Babesia microti. Despite the poor ecological fitness of B. microti, babesiosis has recently emerged in areas endemic for Lyme disease. Studies in ticks, reservoir hosts, and humans indicate that coinfection with B. burgdorferi and B. microti is common, promotes transmission and emergence of B. microti in the enzootic cycle, and causes greater disease severity and duration in humans. These interdisciplinary studies may serve as a paradigm for the study of other vector-borne coinfections. Identifying ecological drivers of pathogen emergence and host factors that fuel disease severity in coinfected individuals will help guide the design of effective preventative and therapeutic strategies.
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: not found
              • Article: not found

              A case of meningoencephalitis by the relapsing fever spirochaete Borrelia miyamotoi in Europe.

                Bookmark

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                Front Cell Infect Microbiol
                Front Cell Infect Microbiol
                Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
                Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
                Frontiers Media S.A.
                2235-2988
                14 February 2017
                2017
                : 7
                : 36
                Affiliations
                [1] 1INRA, UMR Bipar, INRA, Anses, ENVA Maisons-Alfort, France
                [2] 2Department of Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Iaşi, Romania
                [3] 3Department of Parasitology and Parasitic Diseases, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Romania
                Author notes

                Edited by: Linden Hu, Tufts University, USA

                Reviewed by: Tao Lin, University of Texas McGovern Medical School at Houston, USA; Jon Blevins, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, USA

                *Correspondence: Gheorghe Savuta epirovet@ 123456yahoo.com
                Article
                10.3389/fcimb.2017.00036
                5306127
                28261565
                be73b850-59d3-4a81-9bb3-9b39d9f834ee
                Copyright © 2017 Raileanu, Moutailler, Pavel, Porea, Mihalca, Savuta and Vayssier-Taussat.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

                History
                : 24 November 2016
                : 31 January 2017
                Page count
                Figures: 1, Tables: 3, Equations: 0, References: 71, Pages: 12, Words: 9731
                Categories
                Microbiology
                Original Research

                Infectious disease & Microbiology
                questing ticks,borrelia,tick-borne pathogens,co-infection,romania

                Comments

                Comment on this article