Prevalence of Bartonella henselae and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato DNA in Ixodes ricinus ticks in Europe

Florian Dietrich, Thomas Schmidgen, Ricardo G. Maggi, Dania Richter, Franz Rainer Matuschka, Reinhard Vonthein, Edward B. Breitschwerdt, Volkhard A.J. Kempf

57 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Bartonella spp. can cause persistent bloodstream infections in humans and animals. To determine whether Bartonella henselae is present in questing Ixodes ricinus ticks, we analyzed the prevalence of B. henselae DNA among tick stages compared to the prevalence of DNA from Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the pathogen most frequently transmitted by ticks. B. henselae DNA was present with a prevalence of up to ∼40% in tick populations sampled in four European sites (Eberdingen, Germany; Klasdorf, Germany; Lembach, France; and Madeira, Portugal). The odds of detecting B. henselae DNA in nymphal ticks was ∼ 14-fold higher than in adult ticks. No tick was found to be coinfected with B. henselae and B. burgdorferi sensu lato. Taken together, our data indicate that ticks might serve as a vector for the transmission of B. henselae to humans.

Original languageEnglish
JournalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume76
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)1395-1398
Number of pages4
ISSN0099-2240
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 03.2010

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