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Distribution of ixodid ticks on dogs in Nuevo León, Mexico, and their association with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato

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Abstract

This study aimed to document the geographic distribution of Ixodes tick species in dogs and the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. in adult ticks and blood samples by amplification of the ospA region of the B. burgdorferi genome. The study area included nine localities in Nuevo León state. DNA amplification was performed on pools of ticks to calculate the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE), and the community composition (prevalence, abundance, and intensity of infestation) was recorded. A total of 2,543 adult ticks, representing four species, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Dermacentor variabilis, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus, and Amblyomma cajennense, were recorded from 338 infested dogs. Statistically significant correlations were observed between female dogs and infestation (P = 0.0003) and between R. sanguineus and locality (P = 0.0001). Dogs sampled in Guadalupe and Estanzuela were positive by PCR (0.9 %) for B. burgdorferi. Rhipicephalus sanguineus had the highest abundance, intensity, and prevalence (10.57, 7.12 and 94.6, respectively). PCR results from 256 pools showed that four pools were positive for D. variabilis (1.6 %), with an MLE of 9.2 %; nevertheless, it is important to consider that in the area under examination probably other reservoir hosts for D. variabilis and B. burgdorferi are present that, very likely, play a much more important role in the ecology of Lyme borreliosis than dogs, which could be considered in future studies.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Biol. Cuauhtémoc Lara and Biol. Andrés Alvarez, who performed the field work. In addition, special thanks to Mariana Cinco (Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche Sez. Microbiologia Universita` degli Studi Trieste, Italy) and Mario T. Philipp (Division of Bacteriology and Parasitology, Tulane National Primate Research Center), who kindly provided us with positive controls for B. burgdorferi DNA. This project was supported by PAICYT-UANL 2012.

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  1. Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Patología Molecular y Experimental. Cd. Universitaria, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, 66451, San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León, Mexico

    Lucio Galaviz-Silva, Karla Carmelita Pérez-Treviño & Zinnia J. Molina-Garza

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  1. Lucio Galaviz-Silva
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  2. Karla Carmelita Pérez-Treviño
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Correspondence to Zinnia J. Molina-Garza.

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Galaviz-Silva, L., Pérez-Treviño, K.C. & Molina-Garza, Z.J. Distribution of ixodid ticks on dogs in Nuevo León, Mexico, and their association with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Exp Appl Acarol 61, 491–501 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-013-9707-5

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