Occurrence of Borrelia spirochaetes in ticks (Acari, Ixodidae) collected in the forest areas in Olsztyn province (north central Poland)
Wegner, Z.; Stańczak, J.; Racewicz, M.; Kruminis-Lozowska, W.; Kubica-Biernat, B.
Bulletin of the Institute of Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia 44-45(1-4): 51-59
1993
ISSN/ISBN: 0324-8542 PMID: 7580351 Document Number: 410610
In 1993, 2178 of 3816 Ixodes ricinus and 45 of 82 Dermacentor reticulatus collected from vegetation at 35 sites and removed from hunter-killed deer in Olsztyn province, Poland, were examined individually for the presence of Borrelia spirochaetes. Detection of spirochaetes was carried out by the routine indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) using polyclonal antibody anti-B. burgdorferi strain 1 B 29. Borreliae, presumably B. burgdorferi, were evident in 192 (11.5%) I. ricinus (nymphs and adults) collected from vegetation (n = 1666) and in 6 (1.2%) of those removed from hosts (n = 512). Among the first ones, infection rate in nymphs (7.5%) was 2.5 times lower than in adults (18.8%), but was similar in females (18.7%) and males (18.9%). The calculated minimal and maximal infection rates of ticks collected from different locations were 2.9% and 35.7%, respectively. No spirochaetes were observed in the D. reticulatus tested.