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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1002-1007, Vol. 38, No. 3
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
PCR Detection of Granulocytic Ehrlichiae in Ixodes
ricinus Ticks and Wild Small Mammals in Western
Switzerland
Jorge S.
Liz,1,*
Laurence
Anderes,1
John W.
Sumner,2
Robert F.
Massung,2
Lise
Gern,3
Bernard
Rutti,1 and
Michel
Brossard1
Department of
Immunology1 and Department of
Parasitology,3 Institute of Zoology, University
of Neuchâtel, 2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland; and
Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Division of Viral and
Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
303332
Received 9 August 1999/Returned for modification 11 October
1999/Accepted 8 December 1999
The presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae was demonstrated by PCR in
Ixodes ricinus ticks and wild small mammals in Switzerland in two areas of endemicity for bovine ehrlichiosis. Six ticks (three
females and three nymphs) (1.4%) of 417 I. ricinus ticks collected by flagging vegetation contained ehrlichial DNA. A total of
201 small mammals from five species, wood mouse (Apodemus
sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus
flavicollis), earth vole (Pitymys subterraneus), bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus),
and common shrew (Sorex araneus), were trapped. The
analysis of I. ricinus mammals collected on 116 small mammals showed that nine C. glareolus voles and
two A. sylvaticus mice hosted infected tick larvae. In
these rodents, granulocytic ehrlichia infection was also detected in
blood, spleen, liver, and ear samples. Further examinations of 190 small mammals without ticks or with noninfected ticks showed the
presence of ehrlichial DNA in spleen and other tissues from six
additional C. glareolus, three A. flavicollis,
and one S. araneus mammals. This study suggests that
A. sylvaticus, A. flavicollis, S. araneus, and particularly C. glareolus are likely to
be natural reservoirs for granulocytic ehrlichiae. Partial 16S rRNA
gene sequences of granulocytic ehrlichiae from ticks and rodents showed a high degree of homology (99 to 100%) with granulocytic ehrlichiae isolated from humans. In contrast, groESL heat shock
operon sequence analysis showed a strong divergence (approximately
5%) between the sequences in samples derived from rodents and those
derived from samples from questing ticks or from other published
ehrlichia sequences. Dual infections with granulocytic ehrlichia and
Borrelia burgdorferi were found in ticks and small mammals.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Immunology, Institute of Zoology, University of Neuchâtel, Rue
Emile-Argand 11, 2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Phone:
41-32-7183016. Fax: 41-32-7183011. E-mail:
jorge.liz{at}zool.unine.ch.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2000, p. 1002-1007, Vol. 38, No. 3
0095-1137/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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