Exp Appl Acarol. 2008 Apr;44(4):307-14. doi: 10.1007/s10493-008-9150-1. Epub 2008 Apr 10.
QUOTE- "No A. phagocytophilum DNA was amplified. We conclude that larvae of the genus Neotrombicula can be infected with Borrelia genospecies originated from their present or former hosts."
Link Here- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18401688
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2005 Fall;5(3):227-32.
Presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in mites parasitizing small rodents.
Netusil J, Zákovská A, Horváth R, Dendis M, Janouskovcová E.
Source
Department of Comparative Animal Physiology and General Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic. 13446@mail.muni.cz
Abstract
Ticks (especially those in the family Ixodidae) are the primary vectors of the infectious agent Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, which causes Lyme disease. To determine the potential role of mites as vectors of B. burgdorferi sensu lato, miteswere collected from wild rodents in the Bazantula region of North Moravia (Czech Republic). These samples were examined for the presence of Borreliae by using DFM and PCR methods. Mites positive for the presence of DNA of B. burgdorferi sensu lato were determined as members of the families Haemogamasidae and Parasitidae. One sample from a mite of genus Haemogamasus was successfully isolated, and the specimen was confirmed as B. afzelii by using PCR-RFLP and by gradient SDS-PAGE. This suggests the possible participation of gamasid mites in borrelial circulation in nature and also points to the utility of further such studies to identify potential vectors (other than ticks) of the spirochete.
PMID:
16187890
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Exp Appl Acarol. 2008 Apr;44(4):307-14. Epub 2008 Apr 10.
Larvae of chigger mites Neotrombicula spp. (Acari: Trombiculidae) exhibited Borrelia but no Anaplasma infections: a field study including birds from the Czech Carpathians as hosts of chiggers.
Literak I, Stekolnikov AA, Sychra O, Dubska L, Taragelova V.
Department of Biology and Wildlife Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Hygiene and Ecology, University of Veterinary and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Palackeho 1-3, 612 42, Brno, Czech Republic. literaki@vfu.cz
Abstract
Chigger mites were collected from 1,080 wild birds of 37 species at Certak (Czech Republic), in the western Carpathian Mountains, from 29 July to 24 September 2005. The prevalence of infestation with chigger larvae was 7%. A total of 325 chigger specimens from 10 bird species was identified and three chigger species were found: Neotrombicula autumnalis, N. carpathica, and N. inopinata, the latter two species being reported on new hosts. Neotrombicula carpathica is reported in the Czech Republic for the first time.
A total of 509 chigger larvae found on 79 host specimens were examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. DNA (fragments of the rrf (5S)--rrl (23S) intergenic spacer), and Anaplasma phagocytophilum DNA (epank1 gene). A fragment of specific Borrelia DNA was amplified through PCR in one sample, and the PCR product was further analyzed by reverse line blotting assay, whereby both genospecies of B. garinii and B. valaisiana were proved. This sample pooled five chigger larvae collected from one Sylvia atricapilla on 11 August 2005. No A. phagocytophilum DNA was amplified. We conclude that larvae of the genus Neotrombicula can be infected with Borrelia genospecies originated from their present or former hosts.
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Exp Appl Acarol. 2004;33(1-2):93-102.
Neotrombicula autumnalis (Acari, Trombiculidae) as a vector for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato?
Kampen H, Schöler A, Metzen M, Oehme R, Hartelt K, Kimmig P, Maier WA.
ource
Institute for Medical Parasitology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str, Bonn, Germany. hkampen@parasit.meb.uni-bonn.de
Abstract
Larvae of the trombiculid mite Neotrombicula autumnalis were collected at 18 sites in and around Bonn, Germany, to be screened for infection with Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. by means of PCR. Questing larvae numbering 1380 were derived from the vegetation and 634 feeding ones were removed from 100 trapped micromammals including voles, mice, shrews and hedgehogs. In a laboratory infection experiment, a further 305 host-seeking larvae from the field were transferred ontoBorrelia-positive mice and gerbils, and examined for spirochete infection at various intervals after repletion.
In three cases borrelial DNA could be amplified from the mites: (1) from a larva feeding on a wild-caught greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula), (2) from a pool of four larvae feeding on a B. garinii-positive laboratory mouse, and (3) from a nymph that had fed on a B. afzelii-positive laboratory gerbil as a larva. In the first case, borrelial species determination by DNA hybridization of the PCR product was only possible with a B. burgdorferi complex-specific probe but not with a species-specific one. In the second case, probing showed the same borrelial genospecies (B. garinii) as the laboratory host had been infected with.
In the latter case, however, DNA hybridization demonstrated B. valaisiana while the laboratory host had been infected with B. afzelii. Subsequent DNA sequencing confirmed much higher similarity of the PCR product to B. valaisiana than to B. afzelii indicating an infection of the mite prior to feeding on the laboratory host.
The negligible percentage of positive mites found in this study suggests that either the uptake of borrelial cells by feeding trombiculids is an extremely rare event or that ingested spirochetes are rapidly digested. On the other hand, the results imply a possible transstadial and transovarial transmission of borreliae once they are established in their trombiculid host.
However, unless the transmission of borreliae to a given host is demonstrated, a final statement on the vector competence of trombiculidmites is not possible.
PMID:
15285141
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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Med Parazitol (Mosk). 1999 Apr-Jun;(2):26-30.
[An experimental study of the capacity of the rat mite Ornithonyssus bacoti (Hirst, 1913) to ingest, maintain and transmit Borrelia].
[Article in Russian]
Lopatina IuV, Vasil'eva IS, Gutova VP, Ershova AS, Burakova OV, Naumov RL, Petrova AD.
Abstract
For the first time a possibility of the gamasina mites' O. bacoti participation in Lyme disease spirochetes' circulation has been demonstrated. It has been experimentally shown that Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. are received by O. bacoti, survive in them for at least 21 days and are transmitted to white mice through mites' bites. Mice's infestation has occurred in 23% of cases. It is suggested that other bloodsucking gamasina mites inhabiting the Lyme borreliosis reservoir rodents nests may be capable of participating in borrelia circulation in the Lyme disease endemic areas.
PMID:
10703202
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
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J Med Entomol. 1993 May;30(3):642-5.
An unexpected result from burning vegetation to reduce Lyme disease transmission risks.
Mather TN, Duffy DC, Campbell SR.
Source
Center for Vector-Borne Disease Research, University of Rhode Island, Kingston 02881.
Abstract
The risk for human infection with Lyme disease appears linked to the abundance of infected vector ticks, principally Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman & Corwin, in the eastern United States. Habitat destruction by burning, although not well studied, has long been considered as an effective alternative to synthetic insecticides as a means of reducing tick populations.
We evaluated the effect of a single spring burning of the woodland understory on the transmission risk of Lyme disease spirochetes (Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmid, Hyde, Steigerwalt & Brenner) on Shelter Island, Long Island, NY. Following a burn in early April 1991, the abundance of nymphal I. dammini was 49% lower in the burned portion of a woodlot compared with the unburned portion.
However, risk of encountering nymphs infected with B. burgdorferi remained similar in both burned and unburned woods. It is suggested that burning vegetation may disproportionately kill deer-derived rather than rodent-derived nymphs, significantly reducing tick abundance without affecting transmission risk.
PMID:
8510127
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Ehrlichia- Mites
J Parasitol. 2001 Dec;87(6):1482-3.
Molecular detection of Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup organisms in larvae of Neotrombicula autumnalis (Acari: Trombiculidae) captured in Spain.
Fernández-Soto P, Pérez-Sánchez R, Encinas-Grandes A.
Source
Departamento de Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
Abstract
Twenty unfed larvae of Neotrombicula autumnalis (Acari: Trombiculidae) collected on vegetation in the north of Spain were examined by polymerase chain reaction for Borrelia burgdorferi (s.l.). rickettsiae, and the Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup. At least 10% of the larvae were found to contain granulocytic ehrlichiae. Because the larvae were unfed, they would necessarily have inherited the bacteria through a transovarian transmission pathway.
PMID:
11780844
[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]