Isolation of Lyme Disease Borrelia from Puffins ( Fratercula arctica ) and Seabird Ticks ( Ixodes uriae ) on the Faeroe Islands

Author:

Gylfe Åsa1,Olsen Björn12,Straševičius Darius1,Marti Ras Nuria3,Weihe Pál4,Noppa Laila1,Östberg Yngve1,Baranton Guy3,Bergström Sven1

Affiliation:

1. Departments of Microbiology1 and

2. Infectious Diseases,2 Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden;

3. Unité de Bactériologie Moléculaire et Médicale, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France3; and

4. Department of Occupational and Public Health, The Faeroese Hospital System, FR 100 Tórshavn, The Faeroe Islands4

Abstract

ABSTRACT This is the first report on the isolation of Lyme disease Borrelia from seabirds on the Faeroe Islands and the characteristics of its enzootic cycle. The major components of the Borrelia cycle include the puffin ( Fratercula arctica ) as the reservoir and Ixodes uriae as the vector. The importance of this cycle and its impact on the spread of human Lyme borreliosis have not yet been established. Borrelia spirochetes isolated from 2 of 102 sampled puffins were compared to the borreliae previously obtained from seabird ticks, I. uriae . The rrf-rrl intergenic spacer and the rrs and the ospC genes were sequenced and a series of phylogenetic trees were constructed. Sequence data and restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis grouped the strains together with Borrelia garinii . In a seroepidemiological survey performed with residents involved in puffin hunting on the Faeroe Islands, 3 of 81 serum samples were found to be positive by two commonly used clinical tests: a flagellin-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting. These three positive serum samples also had high optical density values in a whole-cell ELISA. The finding of seropositive Faeroe Islanders who are regularly exposed to I. uriae indicate that there may be a transfer of B. garinii by this tick species to humans.

Publisher

American Society for Microbiology

Subject

Microbiology (medical)

Reference41 articles.

1. Epizootiology of Borrelia in Ixodes tick vectors and reservoir hosts;Anderson J. F.;Rev. Infect. Dis.,1989

2. The spirochetal etiology of acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans Herxheimer;Åsbrink E.;Acta Dermatol. Venereol.,1984

3. Ausubel F. M. Brent R. Kingston R. E. Moore D. D. Seidman J. G. Smith J. A. Struhl K. Current protocols in molecular biology. 1992 Greene Publishing Associates and Wiley-Interscience New York N.Y

4. Delineation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia garinii sp. nov., and group VS461 associated with Lyme borreliosis;Baranton G.;Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol.,1992

5. Isolation and cultivation of Lyme disease spirochetes;Barbour A. G.;Yale J. Biol. Med.,1984

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3