| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lizards are considered zooprophylactic for almost all <it>Borrelia burgdorferi </it>species, and act as dilution hosts in parts of North America. Whether European lizards significantly reduce the ability of <it>B. burgdorferi </it>to maintain itself in enzootic cycles, and consequently decrease the infection rate of <it>Ixodes ricinus ticks </it>for <it>B. burgdorferi </it>and other tick-borne pathogens in Western Europe is not clear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ticks were collected from sand lizards, their habitat (heath) and from the adjacent forest. DNA of tick-borne pathogens was detected by PCR followed by reverse line blotting. Tick densities were measured at all four locations by blanket dragging. Nymphs and adult ticks collected from lizards had a significantly lower (1.4%) prevalence of <it>B. burgdorferi </it>sensu lato, compared to questing ticks in heath (24%) or forest (19%). The prevalence of <it>Rickettsia helvetica </it>was significantly higher in ticks from lizards (19%) than those from woodland (10%) whereas neither was significantly different from the prevalence in ticks from heather (15%). The prevalence of <it>Anaplasma </it>and <it>Ehrlichia </it>spp in heather (12%) and forest (14%) were comparable, but significantly lower in ticks from sand lizards (5.4%). The prevalence of <it>Babesia </it>spp in ticks varied between 0 and 5.3%. Tick load of lizards ranged from 1 - 16. Tick densities were ~ 5-fold lower in the heather areas than in woodlands at all four sites.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Despite their apparent low reservoir competence, the presence of sand lizards had insignificant impact on the <it>B. burgdorferi </it>s.l. infection rate of questing ticks. In contrast, sand lizards might act as reservoir hosts for <it>R. helvetica</it>. Remarkably, the public health risk from tick-borne diseases is approximately five times lower in heather than in woodland, due to the low tick densities in heather.</p>
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