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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 1999, p. 3448-3451, Vol. 37, No. 11
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi and
Granulocytic and Monocytic Ehrlichiae in Ixodes ricinus
Ticks from Southern Germany
Birgit U.
Baumgarten,
Martin
Röllinghoff, and
Christian
Bogdan*
Institute of Clinical Microbiology,
Immunology and Hygiene, University of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
Received 29 March 1999/Returned for modification 8 July
1999/Accepted 29 July 1999
A total of 287 adult Ixodes ricinus ticks, collected in
two regions of southern Germany (Frankonia and Baden-Württemberg) where Borrelia burgdorferi infections are known to be
endemic, were examined for the presence of 16S ribosomal DNA specific
for the Ehrlichia phagocytophila genogroup, E. chaffeensis, E. canis, and B. burgdorferi
by nested PCR. Totals of 2.2% (6 of 275) and 21.8% (65 of 275) of the
ticks were positive for the E. phagocytophila genogroup and
B. burgdorferi, respectively. Two ticks (0.7%) were coinfected with both bacteria. Of 12 engorged I. ricinus
ticks collected from two deer, 8 (67%) were positive for the E. phagocytophila genogroup and one (8%) was positive for B. burgdorferi. There was no evidence of infection with E. canis or E. chaffeensis in the investigated tick
population. The nucleotide sequences of the 546-bp
Ehrlichia PCR products differed at one or two positions from the original sequence of the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE)
agent (S.-M. Chen, J. S. Dumler, J. S. Bakken, and D. H. Walker, J. Clin. Microbiol. 32:589-595, 1994). Three groups of sequence variants were detected; two of these were known to occur in
other areas in Europe or the United States, whereas one has not been
reported before. Thus, in the German I. ricinus tick population closely related granulocytic ehrlichiae are prevalent, which
might represent variants of E. phagocytophila or the HGE agent.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut
für Klinische Mikrobiologie, Immunologie und Hygiene,
Universität Erlangen, Wasserturmstrasse 3, D-91054 Erlangen,
Germany. Phone: 49-9131-852-2647. Fax: 49-9131-852-2573 or
49-9131-85-1001. E-mail:
christian.bogdan{at}mikrobio.med.uni-erlangen.de.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 1999, p. 3448-3451, Vol. 37, No. 11
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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