DISTRIBUTION OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI SENSU LATE GENOMIC GROUPS IN EUROPE, A REVIEW

The survey is based on a total of 1263 records (738 isolations and 525 molecular DNA detections) of five Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. genomic g roups available from 26 European countries: B. burgdorferi sensu stric to, B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. valaisiana (= VS116) and B. lusitaniae (= PoTiB2). It shows the geographic distribution, the source (ixodid t icks 802 records, fleas 2 records, mosquitoes 2 records, wild mammals 66 records, human patients 391 records) and the association of the gen omic groups with particular clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosi s in humans (B. afzelii significantly prevails in skin lesions whereas B. garinii is more often associated with neuroborreliosis). The most frequent genomic groups in Europe are B. garinii (501 records) and B. afzelii (469 records). They occur across the continent and islands, wh ereas the third frequent genomic group, B. burgdorferi s.s. (201 recor ds), has only rarely been isolated in eastern Europe. The remaining ge nomic groups, i.e. B. valaisiana (85 records) and B. lusitaniae (7 rec ords) have only been isolated from, or detected in, Ixodes ricinus tic ks in a few European countries.