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Abstract
The infection and reservoir status of red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris) for Borrelia
burgdorferi sensu lato were studied in Switzerland. B. burgdorferi sensu lato was
isolated from 15 skin samples from 4/6 dead red squirrels, victims of road traffic.
Isolates were identified using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP): B.
burgdorferi sensu stricto was present in 14 culture tubes containing skin samples
and B. afzelii in two other tubes. A mixed infection was revealed in one case. A total
of 227 ticks attached to squirrels were cultivated in BSKII medium and 90 isolates
were obtained. Genotypic identification by RFLP showed that B. afzelii (59%) and B.
burgdorferi sensu stricto (46%) dominated in ticks feeding on red squirrels. Data
collected from one particular animal, highly infested with Ixodes ricinus and harbouring
numerous Borrelia-infected Ixodes ricinus ticks, showed that transmission of B. burgdorferi
sensu lato occurred from S. vulgaris to feeding ticks. More precisely, B. burgdorferi
sensu stricto and B. afzelii were mainly transmitted from S. vulgaris to ticks. The
present data emphasized the results obtained previously from small rodents and birds
in Japan and in Switzerland, showing the occurrence of specific associations between
host species and Borrelia genospecies.