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Prevalence of antibodies to Borvelia burgdorferi in Danish rodents
Author(s) -
Frandsen FLEMMING,
Bresciani JOSÉ,
Hansen HANNA G.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
apmis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.909
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1600-0463
pISSN - 0903-4641
DOI - 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1995.tb01102.x
Subject(s) - apodemus , microtus , borrelia burgdorferi , rodent , biology , muridae , antibody , arvicolinae , wood mouse , veterinary medicine , virology , zoology , immunology , ecology , medicine
Six rodent species from six Danish localities were examined for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi by immunofluorescence assay (IFA). A total of 1097 specimens were tested using a serum titre of 1:8. The wild mice Apodemus sylvatieus and A. flavieollis had high prevalences of B. burgdorferi antibodies of 42.1% and 27.9% respectively, but the vole Mierotus agrestis also showed an exceptionally high prevalence of 32.7%. Clethrionomys glareolus had a low average prevalence of 17.4%. The lowest and highest prevalences of rodents seropositive for B. burgdorferi of 6.5% and 100% were found for Mieromys minutus and Mus musculus respectively. Twice as many of the Microtidae voles ( M. agrestis and C. glareolus ) as of the family Muridae were caught, and in Denmark the actual number of seropositive Microtidae was 1.6 times higher than for Muridae. The results indicate that in Denmark the family Microtidae species plays an important role as an animal reservoir host for B. burgdorferi. The prevalence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi varied from locality to locality, but seropositive rodents were found at all localities examined, indicating that the spirochete was widely present in Denmark.