Fish D, Daniels T J
Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla 10545.
J Wildl Dis. 1990 Jul;26(3):339-45. doi: 10.7589/0090-3558-26.3.339.
The ability of raccoons (Procyon lotor), striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) and opossums (Didelphis virginiana) to serve as reservoirs of Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochetal agent of Lyme disease, was compared with that of white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus). Twenty-eight (28) medium-sized mammals and 34 white-footed mice were captured in Westchester County, New York (USA) in summer 1986. Animals were caged over pans of water for 1 to 2 days to recover engorged tick larvae (Ixodes dammini) that detached from the hosts after feeding. With the exception of mice, numbers of engorged tick larvae recovered exceeded those counted during initial examinations of the hosts by 30% (opossums) to nearly 90% (raccoons). Newly-molted nymphal ticks derived from the engorged larvae were examined for the presence of spirochetes by darkfield microscopy. Percentage infection was 5% (n = 22) for ticks from skunks and 14% (n = 191) for ticks from raccoons. None of 24 nymphs from larvae that fed on opossums survived long enough for spirochete examination. By comparison, 40% (n = 72) of nymphs from larvae which fed on white-footed mice were infected. Of the individual hosts from which molted nymphs had fed as larvae, 67% of mice, 33% of skunks, and 55% of raccoons produced spirochete-positive ticks.
将浣熊（北美浣熊）、条纹臭鼬和负鼠作为莱姆病螺旋体病原体——伯氏疏螺旋体的宿主的能力，与白足鼠进行了比较。1986年夏天，在美国纽约州韦斯特切斯特县捕获了28只中型哺乳动物和34只白足鼠。将动物关在装有水盘的笼子里1至2天，以收集饱血的蜱幼虫（达氏硬蜱），这些幼虫在进食后从宿主身上脱落。除了老鼠，收集到的饱血蜱幼虫数量比宿主初次检查时计数的数量多出30%（负鼠）至近90%（浣熊）。通过暗视野显微镜检查从饱血幼虫发育而来的新蜕皮若蜱是否存在螺旋体。来自臭鼬的蜱的感染率为5%（n = 22），来自浣熊的蜱的感染率为14%（n = 191）。以负鼠为食的幼虫发育而来的24只若蜱中，没有一只存活足够长的时间进行螺旋体检查。相比之下，以白足鼠为食的幼虫发育而来的若蜱中，40%（n = 72）受到感染。在幼虫阶段曾以其为食的若蜱已蜕皮的个体宿主中，67%的老鼠、33%的臭鼬和55%的浣熊产生了螺旋体阳性的蜱。
