Olsen B, Duffy D C, Jaenson T G, Gylfe A, Bonnedahl J, Bergström S
Department of Microbiology, Umeå University, Sweden.
J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Dec;33(12):3270-4. doi: 10.1128/jcm.33.12.3270-3274.1995.
Lyme disease is a zoonosis transmitted by ticks and caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Epidemiological and ecological investigations to date have focused on the terrestrial forms of Lyme disease. Here we show a significant role for seabirds in a global transmission cycle by demonstrating the presence of Lyme disease Borrelia spirochetes in Ixodes uriae ticks from several seabird colonies in both the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Borrelia DNA was isolated from I. uriae ticks and from cultured spirochetes. Sequence analysis of a conserved region of the flagellin (fla) gene revealed that the DNA obtained was from B. garinii regardless of the geographical origin of the sample. Identical fla gene fragments in ticks obtained from different hemispheres indicate a transhemispheric exchange of Lyme disease spirochetes. A marine ecological niche and a marine epidemiological route for Lyme disease borreliae are proposed.
莱姆病是一种由蜱传播、由疏螺旋体伯氏疏螺旋体复合群引起的人畜共患病。迄今为止，流行病学和生态学调查主要集中在陆地形式的莱姆病。在此，我们通过在南半球和北半球几个海鸟聚居地的尿蜱中发现莱姆病疏螺旋体，证明了海鸟在全球传播循环中发挥的重要作用。从尿蜱和培养的螺旋体中分离出了疏螺旋体DNA。鞭毛蛋白（fla）基因保守区域的序列分析表明，无论样本的地理来源如何，所获得的DNA均来自伽氏疏螺旋体。从不同半球采集的蜱中相同的fla基因片段表明莱姆病螺旋体存在跨半球交换。我们提出了莱姆病螺旋体的海洋生态位和海洋传播途径。
