Presence of Borrelia Spirochetes in White Stork (), White-Tailed Eagle (), and Eastern Imperial Eagle (): Hospitalized in a Wild Bird Hospital and Sanctuary (Hortobágy, Hungary).

Wild birds across the globe can carry the causative agent of avian borreliosis, , and that of human Lyme borreliosis, sensu lato in the ticks attached to them. Currently, only limited proof exists for the presence of these pathogens in samples taken from living wild birds, carried by the birds as a reservoir, without symptoms. We investigated blood samples of large-bodied wild birds admitted to a bird hospital, where basic clinical symptoms were recorded. Thirty-six blood samples were collected from them, according to the DualDur kit methodology, and investigated using dark-field microscopy to search for spirochetes. Five of the samples were also investigated by immunofluorescence microscopy to identify . Since the main reason for admittance to the hospital was a physical injury, no significant symptoms were observed regarding a current Borrelia infection. Out of the sixteen birds of prey, eleven (68%) were infected with spirochetes, and fifteen out of twenty storks (75%) were also infected with spirochetes, without major symptoms. All five samples investigated using immunofluorescence were confirmed to contain the human pathogenic sensu lato. Thus, direct investigations of the blood of wild birds may show the asymptomatic prevalence of Borrelia in the wild bird population.