A Lyme borreliosis cycle in seabirds and Ixodes uriae ticks

摘要: The Lyme disease spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi s.l., is the only known to infect both mammals and birds. main vertebrate reservoirs of B. are thought be various small intermediate size mammals, but importance birds as a reservoir has not been thoroughly explored. In Northern Southern Hemispheres seabird tick, Ixodes uriae, prevalent closely associated with many species colony-nesting marine Here we report presence spirochaetes, demonstrated by immunofluorescent assay, polymerase chain reaction in culture, I. uriae infesting razorbills on an island Baltic Sea. This free from mammals. protein profile spirochaetes sequences their flagellin ospA genes identical those previously isolated ricinus nearby island. biopsies foot web razorbills, burgdorferi-specific DNA was detected after amplification reaction. Our results suggest that play important part maintenance may prerequisite for its life cycle.