Prevalence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in game animals in south Moravia, Czech Republic

In a game animal survey, sera of 673 animals were examined for Borrelia bur gdorferi s. l. antibodies: 55 roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), 209 fallow de er (Dama dama), 55 red deer (Cervus elaphus), 80 mouflons (Ovis musimon), 1 50 wild boars (Sus scrofa) and 124 pheasants (Phasianus colchicus). The stu dy was carried out with inhibition haemagglutination (IHA) and indirect imm unofluorescence (IFA) assays. Using IHA, B. burgdorferi antibodies (titres from 1 : 80 to 1 : 320) were found in 30.9% of roe deer, 50.7% of fallow de er, 34.5% of red deer and 37.5% of mouflons. The percentage of reactors in IFA was 25.3% in wild boars and 13.7% in pheasants (titres from 1 : 64 to 1 : 256).