1: Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2005 Winter;5(4):383-9. Related Articles, Links


Distribution of Borreliae among Ticks Collected from Eastern States.

Taft SC, Miller MK, Wright SM.
Department of Molecular Genetics, Biochemistry, and Microbiology, University
of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United

States and is transmitted by Borrelia burgdorferi-infected Ixodes species.
The disease is typically characterized by an erythema migrans (EM) rash at
the
site of tick feeding. EM rashes have also been associated with feeding by
Amblyomma americanum ticks despite evidence suggesting that they are
incompetent
vectors for Lyme disease. In 1996, a Borrelia organism only recently
cultivated
in the laboratory was described in A. americanum ticks and designated B.
lonestari. This Borrelia is believed to be the etiologic agent of a novel
Lyme-like
disease, southern tick associated rash illness (STARI). This study examined
ticks collected from eight eastern states to evaluate the epidemiology of B.
lonestari, B. burgdorferi, and their tick hosts. Three hundred individual or
small pool samples were evaluated from tick genera that included Amblyomma,
Ixodes, and Dermacentor. DNA was extracted following tick homogenization and
the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed using primers derived from the
flagellin gene that amplify sequences from both B. burgdorferi and B.
lonestari.
Species specific digoxigenin labeled probes were designed and used to
differentiate between B. burgdorferi and B. lonestari. Borrelia DNA was
detected in
approximately 10% of the A. americanum and I. scapularis tick samples, but
none
was present in any of the Dermacentor samples tested. Positive samples were
detected in ticks collected from Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Jersey,
New York, and Virginia. This is the first known report of B. lonestari from
Massachusetts and New York and the first detection in I. scapularis. This
suggests that B. lonestari and its putative association with STARI may be
more
widespread than previously thought. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis. 5, 383-389.

PMID: 16417434 [PubMed - in process]