Gray J S, Kahl O, Janetzki-Mittman C, Stein J, Guy E
Department of Environmental Resource Management, University College Dublin, Ireland.
Exp Appl Acarol. 1994 Aug;18(8):485-91. doi: 10.1007/BF00051470.
A hedgehog, Erinaceus europaeus, was found to be heavily infested with larval and nymphal Ixodes ricinus in a forest park in Co. Galway, Ireland. A large proportion of the ticks that engorged and detached were infected with the spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of human Lyme borreliosis. The identity of these spirochaetes was confirmed by immunofluorescent assay with B. burgdorferi-specific monoclonal antibody and by polymerase chain reaction test and they were transmitted from the hedgehog to laboratory-reared ticks and from the ticks obtained from the hedgehog to gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). The high infection rate of the larvae that fed on the hedgehog in comparison with unfed larvae from the same habitat was interpreted as strong evidence that this host species is reservoir competent. Since hedgehogs can evidently feed adult ticks as well as many immature stages, they may well have an important role in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis in some habitats.
在爱尔兰戈尔韦郡的一个森林公园里，发现一只刺猬（欧洲刺猬）身上大量寄生着蓖麻硬蜱的幼虫和若虫。大量饱血后脱落的蜱感染了螺旋体——伯氏疏螺旋体，它是人类莱姆病的病原体。这些螺旋体的身份通过用伯氏疏螺旋体特异性单克隆抗体进行免疫荧光测定以及聚合酶链反应试验得以确认，并且它们能从刺猬传播到实验室饲养的蜱，也能从取自刺猬的蜱传播到沙鼠（长爪沙鼠）身上。与来自同一栖息地未进食的幼虫相比，以刺猬为食的幼虫感染率很高，这被解释为该宿主物种具备储存宿主能力的有力证据。由于刺猬显然既能为成年蜱提供食物，也能为许多未成熟阶段的蜱提供食物，它们很可能在某些栖息地的莱姆病生态中发挥重要作用。
