Dsouli Najla, Younsi-Kabachii Hend, Postic Danièle, Nouira Said, Gern Lise, Bouattour Ali
Institut Pasteur, 1002 Tunis Belvedere, Tunisia.
J Med Entomol. 2006 Jul;43(4):737-42. doi: 10.1603/0022-2585(2006)43[737:rrolpa]2.0.co;2.
To investigate the reservoir role of the lizard Psammodromus algirus for the Lyme disease spirochete, 199 lizards were trapped from April to October 2003 in El Jouza, northwestern Tunisia. In this site, the infection rate of free-living Ixodes ricinus (L.) by Borrelia was evaluated by immunofluorescence as 34.6% for adult ticks and 12.5% for nymphs. Eighty percent of P. algirus (117/146) captured during this study were infested by I. ricinus, the predominant tick species collected from lizards. The intensity of tick infestation of this host by larvae and nymphs ranged from 0.14 to 7.07 and from 1.5 to 6.58, respectively. These immature stages of I. ricinus were found on lizards in spring and the beginning of summer, with a peak of intensity during June (10.16 immature ticks by lizard). Tissue cultures from lizards and xenodiagnosis with larval I. ricinus were used to assess the infection and the ability, respectively, of infected lizards to transmit Borrelia to naive ticks. Seventeen percent of xenodiagnostic ticks (40/229) acquired B. lusitaniae while feeding on P. algirus. Therefore, we demonstrated the ability of the lizards to sustain Borrelia infection and to infect attached ticks, and we proved that P. algirus is a reservoir host competent to transmit B. lusitaniae.
为研究蜥蜴阿尔及利亚沙蜥作为莱姆病螺旋体储存宿主的作用，2003年4月至10月期间，在突尼斯西北部的埃尔朱扎捕获了199只蜥蜴。在该地点，通过免疫荧光评估自由生活的蓖麻硬蜱感染伯氏疏螺旋体的比率，成年蜱为34.6%，若虫为12.5%。在本研究中捕获的阿尔及利亚沙蜥中有80%（117/146）被蓖麻硬蜱寄生，蓖麻硬蜱是从蜥蜴身上采集到的主要蜱种。该宿主被幼虫和若虫寄生的强度范围分别为0.14至7.07以及1.5至6.58。蓖麻硬蜱的这些未成熟阶段在春季和初夏出现在蜥蜴身上，6月寄生强度达到峰值（每只蜥蜴有10.16只未成熟蜱）。分别使用蜥蜴的组织培养和用蓖麻硬蜱幼虫进行的异种诊断来评估受感染蜥蜴的感染情况以及将伯氏疏螺旋体传播给未感染蜱的能力。40只（40/229）异种诊断蜱在以阿尔及利亚沙蜥为食时感染了葡萄牙疏螺旋体。因此，我们证明了蜥蜴能够维持伯氏疏螺旋体感染并感染附着在其身上的蜱，并且证明阿尔及利亚沙蜥是能够传播葡萄牙疏螺旋体的储存宿主。
