Infection of Ixodes ricinus (Acari : Ixodidae) by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in North Africa

Free-living adult Ixodes ricinus. were collected in Amdoun, situated in the Kroumiry mountains in northwestern Tunisia (North Africa). Using direct fl uorescence antibody assay, the infection rate of field-collected I. ricinus bq Borrelia burgdorferi sensu late was 30.5% (n = 72). No difference in in fection rate was observed between male and female ticks. Spirochetes that h ad been isolated from I. ricinus from Ain Drahim (Kroumiry Mountains) in 19 88 were identified as Borrelia lusitaniae (formerly genospecies PotiB2). Th is is the first identification of a genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi sen su lato from the continent of Africa.