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Background  Transmission from the vertebrate host to the arthropod vector is a critical step in the life-cycle of any vector-borne pathogen. How the probability of host-to-vector transmission changes over the duration of the infection is an important predictor of pathogen fitness. The Lyme disease pathogen  Borrelia afzelii  is transmitted by  Ixodes ricinus  ticks and establishes a chronic infection inside rodent reservoir hosts. The present study compares the temporal pattern of host-to-tick transmission between two strains of  B. afzelii .    Methods  Laboratory mice were experimentally infected via tick bite with one of two strains of  B. afzelii : A3 and A10. Mice were repeatedly infested with pathogen-free larval  Ixodes ricinus  ticks over a period of 4 months. Engorged larval ticks moulted into nymphal ticks that were tested for infection with  B. afzelii  using qPCR. The proportion of infected nymphs was used to characterize the pattern of host-to-tick transmission over time.    Results  Both strains of  B. afzelii  followed a similar pattern of host-to-tick transmission. Transmission decreased from the acute to the chronic phase of the infection by 16.1 and 29.3% for strains A3 and A10, respectively. Comparison between strains found no evidence of a trade-off in transmission between the acute and chronic phase of infection. Strain A10 had higher lifetime fitness and established a consistently higher spirochete load in nymphal ticks than strain A3.    Conclusion  Quantifying the relationship between host-to-vector transmission and the age of infection in the host is critical for estimating the lifetime fitness of vector-borne pathogens.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-016-1929-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Comparison of the lifetime host-to-tick transmission between two strains of the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia afzelii