Niche Partitioning of Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi in the Same Tick Vector and Mammalian Reservoir Species

The Lyme borreliosis agent Borrelia burgdorferi and the relapsing fever group species Borrelia miyamotoi co-occur in the United States. We used species-specific, quantitative polymerase chain reaction to study both species in the blood and skin of Peromyscus leucopus mice and host-seeking Ixodes sca...

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Published inThe American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene Vol. 81; no. 6; pp. 1120 - 1131
Main Authors Barbour, Alan G, Bunikis, Jonas, Travinsky, Bridgit, Hoen, Anne Gatewood, Diuk-Wasser, Maria A, Fish, Durland, Tsao, Jean I
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States ASTMH 01.12.2009
Subjects
Animals
Arachnid Vectors - microbiology
Borrelia - classification
Borrelia - isolation & purification
Borrelia burgdorferi
Borrelia Infections - blood
Borrelia Infections - epidemiology
Borrelia Infections - microbiology
Borrelia Infections - veterinary
Disease Reservoirs - microbiology
Host-Pathogen Interactions
Ixodes - microbiology
Ixodes scapularis
Ixodidae
Peromyscus - blood
Peromyscus - microbiology
Peromyscus leucopus
Skin - microbiology
Species Specificity
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Summary:The Lyme borreliosis agent Borrelia burgdorferi and the relapsing fever group species Borrelia miyamotoi co-occur in the United States. We used species-specific, quantitative polymerase chain reaction to study both species in the blood and skin of Peromyscus leucopus mice and host-seeking Ixodes scapularis nymphs at a Connecticut site. Bacteremias with B. burgdorferi or B. miyamotoi were most prevalent during periods of greatest activity for nymphs or larvae, respectively. Whereas B. burgdorferi was 30-fold more frequent than B. miyamotoi in skin biopsies and mice had higher densities of B. burgdorferi densities in the skin than in the blood, B. miyamotoi densities were higher in blood than skin. In a survey of host-seeking nymphs in 11 northern states, infection prevalences for B. burgdorferi and B. miyamotoi averaged approximately 0.20 and approximately 0.02, respectively. Co-infections of P. leucopus or I. scapularis with both B. burgdorferi and B. miyamotoi were neither more nor less common than random expectations.
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Reprint requests: Alan Barbour, University of California Irvine, 3012 Hewitt, Irvine, CA 92697-4028.
Authors’ addresses: Alan G. Barbour, University of California Irvine, 3012 Hewitt, Irvine, CA 92697-4028, Tel: 949-824-5626, Fax: 949-824-5490, abarbour@uci.edu. Jonas Bunikis (University of California Irvine), Research Directorate General, Directorate F-Health; Unit 3-Infectious Diseases, Rue du Champs de Mars 21; CDMA 2/138, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium, Tel: 32-2-2962074, Fax: 32-2-2962074, Jonas.BUNIKIS@ec.europa.eu. Bridgit Travinsky, University of California Irvine, 3012 Hewitt, Irvine, CA 92697-4028, Tel: 949-824-3737, Fax: 949-824-5490, btravins@uci.edu. Anne Gatewood Hoen (Yale University), Children’s Hospital Informatics Program, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences, Boston, MA 02215, Tel: 857-218-4027, Fax: 617-730-0267, anne.gatewood@childrens.harvard.edu. Maria A. Diuk-Wasser, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06520, Tel: 203-785-4434, Fax: 203-785-3604, maria.diuk@yale.edu. Durland Fish, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06520, Tel: 203-785-3525, Fax: 203-785-3604, Durland.Fish@yale.edu. Jean I. Tsao, Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife and Large Animal Clinical Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, Tel: 517-353-1737, Fax: 517-432-1699, tsao@msu.edu
ISSN:0002-9637
1476-1645
DOI:10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0208