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Appl Environ Microbiol, April 1998, p. 1169-1174, Vol. 64, No. 4
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Differential Transmission of the Genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato by Game Birds and Small Rodents in England

Klaus Kurtenbach,1,2,* Mick Peacey,1,2 Sjoerd G. T. Rijpkema,3,dagger Andrew N. Hoodless,1,4 Patricia A. Nuttall,2 and Sarah E. Randolph1

Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, Oxford,1 NERC Institute of Virology and Environmental Microbiology, OX1 3SR, Oxford,2 and The Game Conservancy Trust, Fordingbridge, SP6 1EF, Hampshire,4 United Kingdom, and Research Laboratory for Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, 3720BA, Bilthoven, The Netherlands3

Received 24 September 1997/Accepted 1 January 1998

The genetic diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was assessed in a focus of Lyme borreliosis in southern Britain dominated by game birds. Ticks, rodents, and pheasants were analyzed for spirochete infections by PCR targeting the 23S-5S rRNA genes, followed by genotyping by the reverse line blot method. In questing Ixodes ricinus ticks, three genospecies of B. burgdorferi sensu lato were detected, with the highest prevalences found for Borrelia garinii and Borrelia valaisiana. B. burgdorferi sensu stricto was rare (<1%) in all tick stages. Borrelia afzelii was not detected in any of the samples. More than 50% of engorged nymphs collected from pheasants were infected with borreliae, mainly B. garinii and/or B. valaisiana. Although 19% of the rodents harbored B. burgdorferi sensu stricto and/or B. garinii in internal organs, only B. burgdorferi sensu stricto was transmitted to xenodiagnostic tick larvae (it was transmitted to 1% of the larvae). The data indicate that different genospecies of B. burgdorferi sensu lato can be maintained in nature by distinct transmission cycles involving the same vector tick species but different vertebrate host species. Wildlife management may have an influence on the relative risk of different clinical forms of Lyme borreliosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: The Wellcome Trust Center for the Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3PS, Oxford, United Kingdom. Phone: 0044-1865-281630. Fax: 0044-1865-281696. E-mail: kku{at}mail.nerc-oxford.ac.uk.

dagger Present address: National Institute of Biological Standards and Controls, South Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3QG, United Kingdom.




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