Andersson Martin, Scherman Kristin, Råberg Lars
Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab, Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2014 Mar;80(5):1645-9. doi: 10.1128/AEM.03469-13. Epub 2013 Dec 27.
The tick-borne bacterium "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis" has recently been recognized as a human pathogen. Together with Borrelia afzelii, it is one of the most common pathogens found in the tick Ixodes ricinus. Here, we compared the epidemiologies of "Ca. Neoehrlichia mikurensis" and B. afzelii by longitudinal sampling from May to September in one of their most abundant vertebrate hosts, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), using real-time PCR for detection and quantification. The prevalences of "Ca. Neoehrlichia mikurensis" and B. afzelii were determined to be 19% (50/261) and 22% (56/261), respectively. The prevalence of "Ca. Neoehrlichia mikurensis" increased significantly during the sampling season. The clearance rate of "Ca. Neoehrlichia mikurensis" was significantly higher than that of B. afzelii. We found a high frequency of double infections; 46% of all samples infected with "Ca. Neoehrlichia mikurensis" also had a coinfection with B. afzelii. The frequency of coinfections was significantly higher than expected from the prevalence of each pathogen. The high level of coinfections can be caused by interactions between the pathogens or might reflect variation in general susceptibility among voles.
蜱传播细菌“新埃立克体（暂未命名）”最近被确认为一种人类病原体。它与阿氏疏螺旋体一起，是在蓖麻硬蜱中发现的最常见病原体之一。在此，我们通过在5月至9月期间从它们最常见的脊椎动物宿主之一——林姬鼠（Myodes glareolus）进行纵向采样，使用实时聚合酶链反应（PCR）进行检测和定量，比较了新埃立克体（暂未命名）和阿氏疏螺旋体的流行病学情况。新埃立克体（暂未命名）和阿氏疏螺旋体的感染率分别确定为19%（50/261）和22%（56/261）。在采样季节，新埃立克体（暂未命名）的感染率显著上升。新埃立克体（暂未命名）的清除率显著高于阿氏疏螺旋体。我们发现双重感染的频率很高；所有感染新埃立克体（暂未命名）的样本中有46%也同时感染了阿氏疏螺旋体。双重感染的频率显著高于根据每种病原体感染率预期的频率。高双重感染水平可能是由病原体之间的相互作用引起的，也可能反映了林姬鼠总体易感性的差异。
