Abstract
BackgroundLyme disease is a multi-organ infection disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Lyme disease was first documented in north-east China in 1986. Since then more than 20 provinces in China were confirmed the existence of nature foci of Lyme disease. In the present study, a molecular epidemiological survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in rodents from Gansu Province for the first time.ResultA total of 140 rodents of 7 species were examined for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. by nested-PCR and culture isolation. The overall infection rate was 22.86%. Two rodent species most frequently trapped were responsible for all positive. 3 strains were isolated from Apodemus agrarius, which belonged to B. garinii, 1 strain isolated from Rattus losea was identified as B. afzelii.ConclusionThe study firstly showed the role of rodents in maintaining the pathogen of Lyme disease in the environment from Gansu Province and there existed at least two genotypes of Lyme disease spirochaetes in rodents.
Highlights
Lyme disease is a multi-organ infection disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato
The study firstly showed the role of rodents in maintaining the pathogen of Lyme disease in the environment from Gansu Province and there existed at least two genotypes of Lyme disease spirochaetes in rodents
Out of 140 rodents examined, B. burgdorferi sensu lato DNA was detected in 32 rodent samples
Summary
Lyme disease is a multi-organ infection disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Since more than 20 provinces in China were confirmed the existence of nature foci of Lyme disease. A molecular epidemiological survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in rodents from Gansu Province for the first time. Mainly mice and voles, are identified to be efficient natural reservoirs for B. burgdorferi sensu lato. They could naturally infect B. burgdorferi sensu lato and remain infective for a long time. Limited studies have been conducted to investigate the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s.l. among rodents from northwestern China [8], systemic surveys on
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