Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec 7:5:285.
doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-285.

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in rodents in an area with sympatric existence of the hard ticks Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus, Germany

Cornelia Silaghi  1 , Dietlinde Woll, Monia Mahling, Kurt Pfister, Martin Pfeffer
Affiliations

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in rodents in an area with sympatric existence of the hard ticks Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus, Germany

Cornelia Silaghi et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) has been described in the hard tick Ixodes ricinus and rodents as well as in some severe cases of human disease. The aims of this study were to identify DNA of CNM in small mammals, the ticks parasitizing them and questing ticks in areas with sympatric existence of Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus in Germany.

Methods: Blood, transudate and organ samples (spleen, kidney, liver, skin) of 91 small mammals and host-attached ticks from altogether 50 small mammals as well as questing I. ricinus ticks (n=782) were screened with a real-time PCR for DNA of CNM.

Results: 52.7% of the small mammals were positive for CNM-DNA. The majority of the infected animals were yellow-necked mice (Apodemus flavicollis) and bank voles (Myodes glareolus). Small mammals with tick infestation were more often infected with CNM than small mammals without ticks. Compared with the prevalence of ~25% in the questing I. ricinus ticks, twice the prevalence in the rodents provides evidence for their role as reservoir hosts for CNM.

Conclusion: The high prevalence of this pathogen in the investigated areas in both rodents and ticks points towards the need for more specific investigation on its role as a human pathogen.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Goeijenbier M, Wagenaar J, Goris M, Martina B, Henttonen H, Vaheri A, Reusken C, Hartskeerl R, Osterhaus A, Van Gorp E. Rodent-borne hemorrhagic fevers: under-recognized, widely spread and preventable - epidemiology, diagnostics and treatment. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2012. epub June 7th, 2012. - PubMed
    1. Bolzoni L, Rosà R, Cagnacci F, Rizzoli A. Effect of deer density on tick infestation of rodents and the hazard of tick-borne encephalitis. II: population and infection models. Int J Parasitol. 2012;42:373–381. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpara.2012.02.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karbowiak G. Zoonotic reservoir of Babesia microti in Poland. Pol J Microbiol. 2004;53(Suppl):61–65. - PubMed
    1. Hillyard PD. Ticks of North-West Europe. Dorchester: The Dorset Press; 1996.
    1. Oliver JH, Lin T, Gao L, Clark KL, Banks CW, Durden LA, James AM, Chandler FW. An enzootic transmission cycle of Lyme borreliosis spirochetes in the southeastern United States. Proc Natl Acad Sci. 2003;100:11642–11645. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1434553100. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources