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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2001, p. 1169-1171, Vol. 39, No. 3
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.3.1169-1171.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Transmission of Borrelia garinii
OspA Serotype 4 to BALB/c Mice by Ixodes ricinus Ticks
Collected in the Field
C. M.
Hu,1
B.
Wilske,2
V.
Fingerle,2
Y.
Lobet,3 and
L.
Gern1,*
Institut de Zoologie, University of
Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland1;
Max von Pettenkofer Institut, Munich,
Germany2; and SmithKline Beecham,
Rixensart, Belgium3
Received 30 May 2000/Returned for modification 29 August
2000/Accepted 22 December 2000
In Europe, Borrelia garinii OspA serotype 4 has been
isolated from the cerebrospinal fluid of patients but, up to now, has never been identified among culture isolates from Ixodes
ricinus ticks. This information raises the question of whether
OspA serotype 4 is transmitted by I. ricinus in nature.
In the present study, I. ricinus nymphs collected in an
area of endemicity in southern Germany were allowed to feed on mice.
Cultivation of ear biopsy specimens showed that six of seven B.
garinii-infected mice were infected by OspA serotype 4. In
contrast, very few B. garinii OspA serotype 4 organisms
were isolated directly from the ticks which infected the mice; most
isolates were B. afzelii. The infected mice transmitted
mainly OspA serotype 4 to xenodiagnostic ticks, preferentially in
combination with B. afzelii.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institut de
Zoologie, Emile Argand 11, 2007 Neuchâtel 7, Switzerland. Phone:
41 32 718 3000. Fax: 41 32 718 3001. E-mail:
lise.gern{at}zool.unine.ch.
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2001, p. 1169-1171, Vol. 39, No. 3
0095-1137/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JCM.39.3.1169-1171.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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