Abstract
Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected by random collections from western and central Slovakia during the years 1996–98. The midgut content of 240 ticks was examined by dark-field microscopy and submitted for cultivation for the presence of borrelias. Spirochetes were found in 21 unfed and host-seeking adults and nymphs (8.8%). By the analysis of restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) one sample from unfedI. ricinus male from western Slovakia was identified as a triple infection ofBorrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto,B. garinii andB. afzelii. The simultaneous presence of differentB. burgdorferi genospecies in one midgut sample (triple infection in the tick) could be observed only after the multipart amplification of denaturated DNA and subsequent pooling of the products for further analysis.
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Schwarzová, K., Čižnár, I. Combined infection ofIxodes ricinus with threeBorrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genotypes. Folia Microbiol 49, 297–300 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931046
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02931046