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Enzootic persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the mid-Atlantic region
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Enzootic persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the mid-Atlantic region
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Enzootic persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the mid-Atlantic region
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Dissertation
Enzootic persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the mid-Atlantic region
2006
Overview
Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative spirochete of Lyme disease in the United States, is maintained in an enzootic cycle in the mid-Atlantic region between the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis). The overall goal of this research was to assess the persistence of B. burgdorferi infection at locations in Maryland and to examine specific factors affecting this persistence. Using a longitudinal study design to study the stability of infection prevalence, we determined that a longitudinal study design provides more accurate data on prevalence than does a cross-sectional study, and showed that, even when the infection prevalence appears to be stable regionally, it does not always remain constant at specific locations. To investigate the persistence of infection within individual mice, B. burgdorferi ospC variation was assessed in serial samples collected from individual mice during a single transmission season. The results confirmed that mice in southern Maryland were persistently infected with multiple variants throughout the transmission season and that several situations explaining the presence of variants were possible. Other factors such as alternative tick hosts or the presence of other microorganisms were investigated for their effects on the persistence of B. burgdorferi. Lizards were studied for their role in the maintenance and transmission of B. burgdorferi. Although some lizards in Maryland may act as alternative reservoirs for B. burgdorferi, lizards do not appear to be present in great enough densities in Maryland to disrupt the enzootic cycle. The presence of other microorganisms capable of infecting I. scapularis was investigated to determine the potential for co-infections involving B. burgdorferi . This study confirmed that multiple microorganisms co-circulate with B. burgdorferi in I. scapularis in Maryland but do not affect the prevalence of B. burgdorferi. Multiple factors and fluctuations in infection prevalence in the reservoir populations observed at locations that appear to be geographically and ecologically similar, makes the study of the B. burgdorferi enzootic cycle more complex than previously thought.
Publisher
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Subject
ISBN
0542645165, 9780542645167
