Liz J S, Anderes L, Sumner J W, Massung R F, Gern L, Rutti B, Brossard M
Department of Immunology, Institute of Zoology, University of Neuchâtel, 2007 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
J Clin Microbiol. 2000 Mar;38(3):1002-7. doi: 10.1128/JCM.38.3.1002-1007.2000.
The presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae was demonstrated by PCR in Ixodes ricinus ticks and wild small mammals in Switzerland in two areas of endemicity for bovine ehrlichiosis. Six ticks (three females and three nymphs) (1.4%) of 417 I. ricinus ticks collected by flagging vegetation contained ehrlichial DNA. A total of 201 small mammals from five species, wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), yellow-necked mouse (Apodemus flavicollis), earth vole (Pitymys subterraneus), bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus), and common shrew (Sorex araneus), were trapped. The analysis of I. ricinus ticks [corrected] collected on 116 small mammals showed that nine C. glareolus voles and two A. sylvaticus mice hosted infected tick larvae. In these rodents, granulocytic ehrlichia infection was also detected in blood, spleen, liver, and ear samples. Further examinations of 190 small mammals without ticks or with noninfected ticks showed the presence of ehrlichial DNA in spleen and other tissues from six additional C. glareolus, three A. flavicollis, and one S. araneus mammals. This study suggests that A. sylvaticus, A. flavicollis, S. araneus, and particularly C. glareolus are likely to be natural reservoirs for granulocytic ehrlichiae. Partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of granulocytic ehrlichiae from ticks and rodents showed a high degree of homology (99 to 100%) with granulocytic ehrlichiae isolated from humans. In contrast, groESL heat shock operon sequence analysis showed a strong divergence (approximately 5%) between the sequences in samples derived from rodents and those derived from samples from questing ticks or from other published ehrlichia sequences. Dual infections with granulocytic ehrlichia and Borrelia burgdorferi were found in ticks and small mammals.
在瑞士牛埃立克体病的两个地方性流行区，通过聚合酶链反应（PCR）在蓖麻硬蜱和野生小型哺乳动物中证实了粒细胞埃立克体的存在。通过拍打植被收集的417只蓖麻硬蜱中，有6只蜱（3只雌蜱和3只若蜱）（1.4%）含有埃立克体DNA。共捕获了来自5个物种的201只小型哺乳动物，分别是林姬鼠（Apodemus sylvaticus）、黄颈姬鼠（Apodemus flavicollis）、地田鼠（Pitymys subterraneus）、棕背䶄（Clethrionomys glareolus）和普通鼩鼱（Sorex araneus）。对在116只小型哺乳动物身上采集的蓖麻硬蜱的分析表明，9只棕背䶄和2只林姬鼠身上携带有感染性的蜱幼虫。在这些啮齿动物的血液、脾脏、肝脏和耳部样本中也检测到了粒细胞埃立克体感染。对另外190只未携带蜱或携带未感染蜱的小型哺乳动物进行的进一步检查显示，在另外6只棕背䶄、3只黄颈姬鼠和1只普通鼩鼱的脾脏及其他组织中存在埃立克体DNA。这项研究表明，林姬鼠、黄颈姬鼠、普通鼩鼱，尤其是棕背䶄可能是粒细胞埃立克体的天然宿主。蜱和啮齿动物中粒细胞埃立克体的部分16S rRNA基因序列与从人类分离出的粒细胞埃立克体具有高度同源性（99%至100%）。相比之下，groESL热休克操纵子序列分析显示，来自啮齿动物样本的序列与来自采获蜱样本或其他已发表的埃立克体序列之间存在较大差异（约5%）。在蜱和小型哺乳动物中发现了粒细胞埃立克体和伯氏疏螺旋体的双重感染。
