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Infection dynamics of the tick-borne pathogen 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis' and co-infections with Borrelia afzelii in bank voles in Southern Sweden.

Andersson, Martin LU ; Scherman, Kristin LU and Råberg, Lars LU (2014) In Applied and Environmental Microbiology 80(5). p.1645-1649
Abstract
The tick-borne bacterium 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis' has recently been recognized as a human pathogen. Together with Borrelia afzelii, it is one of the most common pathogens found in the tick Ixodes ricinus. Here, we compared the epidemiology of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' and B. afzelii by longitudinal sampling from May to September in one of their most abundant vertebrate hosts, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), using real-time PCR for detection and quantification. The prevalence of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' and B. afzelii was 19% (50/261) and 22% (56/261), respectively. The prevalence of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' increased significantly during the sampling season. The clearance rate of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' was... (More)
The tick-borne bacterium 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis' has recently been recognized as a human pathogen. Together with Borrelia afzelii, it is one of the most common pathogens found in the tick Ixodes ricinus. Here, we compared the epidemiology of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' and B. afzelii by longitudinal sampling from May to September in one of their most abundant vertebrate hosts, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), using real-time PCR for detection and quantification. The prevalence of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' and B. afzelii was 19% (50/261) and 22% (56/261), respectively. The prevalence of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' increased significantly during the sampling season. The clearance rate of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' was significantly higher than that of B. afzelii. We found a high frequency of double infections; 46% of all samples infected with 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' also had a co-infection with B. afzelii. The frequency of co-infections was significantly higher than expected from the prevalence of each pathogen. The high level of co-infections can be caused by interactions between the pathogens or might reflect variation in general susceptibility among voles. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Applied and Environmental Microbiology
volume
80
issue
5
pages
1645 - 1649
publisher
American Society for Microbiology
external identifiers
  • pmid:24375128
  • wos:000331626300013
  • scopus:84894088670
  • pmid:24375128
ISSN
0099-2240
DOI
10.1128/AEM.03469-13
project
Borrelia in rodents
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ab51fab8-77b9-4261-a2d9-18f50f0bcc80 (old id 4292371)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 11:11:08
date last changed
2022-04-28 07:55:22
@article{ab51fab8-77b9-4261-a2d9-18f50f0bcc80,
  abstract     = {{The tick-borne bacterium 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis' has recently been recognized as a human pathogen. Together with Borrelia afzelii, it is one of the most common pathogens found in the tick Ixodes ricinus. Here, we compared the epidemiology of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' and B. afzelii by longitudinal sampling from May to September in one of their most abundant vertebrate hosts, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), using real-time PCR for detection and quantification. The prevalence of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' and B. afzelii was 19% (50/261) and 22% (56/261), respectively. The prevalence of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' increased significantly during the sampling season. The clearance rate of 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' was significantly higher than that of B. afzelii. We found a high frequency of double infections; 46% of all samples infected with 'Candidatus N. mikurensis' also had a co-infection with B. afzelii. The frequency of co-infections was significantly higher than expected from the prevalence of each pathogen. The high level of co-infections can be caused by interactions between the pathogens or might reflect variation in general susceptibility among voles.}},
  author       = {{Andersson, Martin and Scherman, Kristin and Råberg, Lars}},
  issn         = {{0099-2240}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1645--1649}},
  publisher    = {{American Society for Microbiology}},
  series       = {{Applied and Environmental Microbiology}},
  title        = {{Infection dynamics of the tick-borne pathogen 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis' and co-infections with Borrelia afzelii in bank voles in Southern Sweden.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03469-13}},
  doi          = {{10.1128/AEM.03469-13}},
  volume       = {{80}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}