AMPLIFYING ROLE OF EDIBLE DORMICE IN LYME-DISEASE TRANSMISSION IN CENTRAL-EUROPE

To determine whether the presence of edible dormice (Glis glis) amplif ies the risk of human infection by the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrel ia burgdorferi), the capacity of dormice as reservoir hosts was compar ed with that of other potential reservoirs in a central European site where risk of human infection is intense. Dormice appeared to be more heavily infested by subadult vector wood ticks (Ixodes ricinus) than w ere other reservoir hosts. Although their spirochete competence was si milar to other reservoir hosts, field-derived dormice infected more ti cks than did other rodents in the site, because nymphal ticks most rea dily feed on them. Spirochetes isolated from dormice appeared identica l to those implicated as agents of Lyme disease. Subadult wood ticks b ecome replete and detach from dormice during late afternoon when dormi ce are at rest in their nests. Thus, the presence of edible dormice in Central Europe amplifies transmission of the agent of Lyme disease an d intensifies the risk of human infection.