Y. Sato et al., PREVALENCE OF LYME-DISEASE SPIROCHETES IN IXODES-PERSULCATUS AND WILDRODENTS IN FAR-EASTERN RUSSIA, Applied and environmental microbiology, 62(10), 1996, pp. 3887-3889
Borrelia spirochetes were isolated from the adult ixodid tick (Ixodes
persulcatus) in three areas of far eastern Russia, namely, Khabarovsk,
Vladivostok, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Borrelia infective rates of ticks
in those areas were 24.5, 41.4, and 25.1%, respectively (total rate w
as 26.6%). Spirochetes were also isolated from the tissues of small ma
mmals captured at Khabarovsk (infective rate was 20.8%). Samples were
classified by rRNA gene restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP
) analysis. The isolated spirochetes from ticks were classified mainly
RFLP ribotype group IV (B. garinii), followed by groups II (B. garini
i), III (B. afzelii), and V (B. garinii), showing that B. garinii is a
dominant species among them. Both B. garinii and B. afzelii were also
found in rodents, and multiple infections with those two species were
observed in some rodents. B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (group I) was
not isolated from either ticks or rodents.