Infection of Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae) by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in North Africa

Free-living adult Ixodes ricinus L. were collected in Amdoun, situated in the Kroumiry mountains in northwestern Tunisia (North Africa). Using direct fluorescence antibody assay, the infection rate of field-collected I. ricinus by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was 30.5% (n = 72). No difference in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of medical entomology Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 216 - 218
Main Authors Zhioua, E, Bouattour, A, Hu, C.M, Gharbi, M, Aeschliman, A, Ginsberg, H.S, Gern, L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.03.1999
Subjects
Africa, Northern
Animals
Borrelia burgdorferi
Borrelia burgdorferi Group - genetics
Borrelia burgdorferi Group - immunology
Borrelia lusitaniae
disease vectors
Female
geographical distribution
identification
infection
infection rate
Ixodes - microbiology
Ixodes ricinus
Lyme disease
Male
restriction fragment length polymorphism
Tunisia
Tunisia
Africa, Northern
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Summary:Free-living adult Ixodes ricinus L. were collected in Amdoun, situated in the Kroumiry mountains in northwestern Tunisia (North Africa). Using direct fluorescence antibody assay, the infection rate of field-collected I. ricinus by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato was 30.5% (n = 72). No difference in infection rate was observed between male and female ticks. Spirochetes that had been isolated from I. ricinus from Ain Drahim (Kroumiry Mountains) in 1988 were identified as Borrelia lusitaniae (formerly genospecies PotiB2). This is the first identification of a genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from the continent of Africa.
ISSN:0022-2585
1938-2928
DOI:10.1093/jmedent/36.2.216