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Background    Borrelia burgdorferi  ( sensu lato ) and rickettsiae of the spotted fever group are zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. While small mammals are confirmed reservoirs for certain  Borrelia  spp., little is known about the reservoirs for tick-borne rickettsiae. Between 2012 and 2014, ticks were collected from the vegetation and small mammals which were trapped in Saxony, Germany. DNA extracted from ticks and the small mammals’ skin was analyzed for the presence of  Rickettsia  spp. and  B. burgdorferi  ( s.l .) by qPCR targeting the  gltA  and  p41  genes, respectively. Partial sequencing of the rickettsial  ompB  gene and an MLST of  B. burgdorferi  ( s.l .) were conducted for species determination.    Results  In total, 673 small mammals belonging to eight species ( Apodemus agrarius ,  n  = 7;  A. flavicollis ,  n  = 214;  Microtus arvalis ,  n  = 8;  Microtus agrestis ,  n  = 1;  Mustela nivalis ,  n  = 2;  Myodes glareolus ,  n  = 435;  Sorex araneus ,  n  = 5; and  Talpa europaea ,  n  = 1) were collected and examined. In total, 916 questing ticks belonging to three species ( Ixodes ricinus ,  n  = 741;  Dermacentor reticulatus ,  n  = 174; and  I. trianguliceps ,  n  = 1) were collected. Of these, 474 ticks were further investigated. The prevalence for  Rickettsia  spp. and  B. burgdorferi  ( s.l .) in the investigated small mammals was 25.3 and 31.2%, respectively. The chance of encountering  Rickettsia  spp. in  M. glareolus  was seven times higher for specimens infested with  D. reticulatus  than for those which were free of  D. reticulatus  (OR: 7.0; 95% CI: 3.3–14.7;  P  < 0.001). In total, 11.4% of questing  I. ricinus  and 70.5% of  D. reticulatus  were positive for  Rickettsia  spp. DNA of  B. burgdorferi  ( s.l .) was detected only in  I. ricinus  (5.5%). Sequence analysis revealed 9  R. helvetica , 5  R. raoultii , and 1  R. felis  obtained from 15 small mammal samples.    Conclusion  Small mammals may serve as reservoirs for  Rickettsia  spp. and  B. burgdorferi  ( s.l .). While the prevalence for  Rickettsia  spp. in  M. glareolus  is most likely depending on the abundance of attached  D. reticulatus , the prevalence for  B. burgdorferi  ( s.l .) in small mammals is independent of tick abundance.  Dermacentor reticulatus  may be the main vector of certain  Rickettsia  spp. but not for  Borrelia  spp.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2053-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

parasites and vectors

The enzootic life-cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) and tick-borne rickettsiae: an epidemiological study on wild-living small mammals and their ticks from Saxony, Germany