Isolation of Borrelia afzelii from overwintering Culex pipiens biotype molestus mosquitoes
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2006 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Microbiology, virology |
| Keywords | Culex (Culex) pipiens s.l.; Borrelia afzelii; PCR-RFLP analysis |
| Description | A total of 662 (winter period: 469; summer period: 193 specimens) of female mosquitoes of the genus Culex, Aedes and Anopheles were collected during the period from March 2000 to April 2001 from the locality of Vysoké Mýto (East Bohemia, Czech Republic). They were examined by dark field microscopy for the presence of spirochetes. The motile spirochetes were observed in 4,2 % of all species of investigated mosquitoes. One spirochetal strain was obtained after isolation, identified using PCR for the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi s. l. and subsequently with the RFLP as genospecies Borrelia afzelii. This strain was derived from overwintering Culex (Culex) pipiens biotype molestus female mosquitoe. This is apparently one of the sporadic cases of the occurrence of pathogenic borreliae in haematophagous arthropods other than Ixodes ricinus ticks. |
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