First report of <it>Borrelia burgdorferi</it> sensu lato in two threatened carnivores: the Marbled polecat, <it>Vormela peregusna</it> and the European mink, <it>Mustela lutreola</it> (Mammalia: Mustelidae)

• Main Authors: Gherman Călin M, Sándor Attila D, Kalmár Zsuzsa, Marinov Mihai, Mihalca Andrei D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012-08-01
• Series: BMC Veterinary Research
• Subjects: <it>Borrelia burgdorferi</it> s.s; First report; <it>Mustela lutreola</it>; <it>Vormela peregusna</it>; Romania
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1746-6148/8/137

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lyme disease is a widespread cosmopolitan zoonosis caused by species belonging to the genus <it>Borrelia</it>. It is transmitted from animal reservoir hosts to humans through hard - ticks of genus <it>Ixodes</it> which are vectors of the disease.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p><it>Borrelia burgdorferi</it> sensu lato infection was identified in a marbled polecat, <it>Vormela peregusna</it>, and two European minks, <it>Mustela lutreola</it>, from Romania, by PCR. RFLP revealed the presence of a single genospecies, <it>Borrelia burgdorferi</it> sensu stricto.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This is the first report of the Lyme disease spirochetes in the two mentioned hosts.</p>