Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Borrelia miyamotoi, Other Vector-Borne Agents in Cat Blood and Ticks in Eastern Maryland

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
EcoHealth Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We collected blood and tick samples in eastern Maryland to quantify vector-borne pathogen exposure and infection in healthy cats and to assess occupational disease risk to veterinary professionals and others who regularly interact with household pets. Thirty-six percent of healthy cats parasitized by ticks at time of examination (9/25) were exposed to, and 14% of bloods (7/49) tested PCR-positive for, at least one vector-borne pathogen including several bloods and ticks with Borrelia miyamotoi, a recently recognized tick-borne zoonotic bacterium. There was no indication that high tick burdens were associated with exposure to vector-borne pathogens. Our results underscore the potential importance of cats to human vector-borne disease risk.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Barbour AG, Bunikis J, Travinsky B, Hoen AG, Diuk-Wasser MA, Fish D, Tsao JI (2009) Niche partitioning of Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi in the same tick vector and mammalian reservoir species. Am J Trop Med Hyg 81:1120–1131. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.2009.09-0208

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Barbour AG, Fish D (1993) The biological and social phenomenon of Lyme disease. Science 260:1610–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bhide M, Travnicek M, Curlik J, Stefancikova A (2004) The importance of dogs in eco-epidemiology of Lyme borreliosis: a review. Vet Med (Praha) 49:135–142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Billeter SA, Diniz PPVP, Battisti JM, Munderloh UG, Breitschwerdt EB, Levy MG (2009) Infection and replication of Bartonella species within a tick cell line. Exp Appl Acarol 49:193–208. doi: 10.1007/s10493-009-9255-1

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Billeter SA, Levy MG, Chomel BB, Breitschwerdt EB (2008) Vector transmission of Bartonella species with emphasis on the potential for tick transmission. Med Vet Entomol 22:1–15.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Breitschwerdt EB (2008) Feline bartonellosis and cat scratch disease. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 123:167–171. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2008.01.025

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bunikis J, Tsao J, Garpmo U, Berglund J, Fish D, Barbour AG (2004) Typing of Borrelia relapsing fever group strains. Emerg Infect Dis 10:1661–1664.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Childs JE, Rooney JA, Cooper JL, Olson JG, Regnery RL (1994) EPIDEMIOLOGIC OBSERVATIONS ON INFECTION WITH ROCHALIMAEA SPECIES AMONG CATS LIVING IN BALTIMORE, MD. J Am Vet Med Assoc 204:1775–1778.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chowdri HR, Gugliotta JL, Berardi VP, Goethert HK, Molloy PJ, Sterling SL, Telford III SR (2013) Borrelia miyamotoi Infection Presenting as human granulocytic anaplasmosis a case report. Ann Intern Med 159:21–27. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-159-1-201307020-00005

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cimmino MA, Fumarola D (1989) The risk of Borrelia burgdorferi infection is not increased in pet owners OF BORRELIA-BURGDORFERI INFECTION IS NOT INCREASED IN PET OWNERS. Jama-Journal Am Med Assoc 262:2997–2998. doi: 10.1001/jama.262.21.2997

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Curran KL, Fish D (1989) Increased risk of Lyme disease for cat owners. N Engl J Med 320:183.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cutler SJ, Fooks AR, Van Der Poel WHM (2010) Public health threat of new, reemerging, and neglected zoonoses in the industrialized world. Emerg Infect Dis 16:1–7. doi: 10.3201/eid1601.081467

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Dehnert M, Fingerle V, Klier C, Talaska T, Schlaud M, Krause G, Wilking H, Poggensee G (2012) Seropositivity of Lyme Borreliosis and Associated Risk Factors: A Population-Based Study in Children and Adolescents in Germany (KiGGS). PLoS One. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0041321

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Diaz MH, Bai Y, Malania L, Winchell JM, Kosoy MY (2012) Development of a Novel Genus-Specific Real-Time PCR Assay for Detection and Differentiation of Bartonella Species and Genotypes. J Clin Microbiol 50:1645–1649. doi: 10.1128/jcm.06621-11

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Fomenko NV, Borgoiakov VI, Panov VV (2011) Genetic features of DNA of Borrelia miyamotoi transmitted by Ixodes persulcatus. Mol Gen Microbiol Virol 26:60–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fowler HN, Holzbauer SM, Smith KE, Scheftel JM (2015) Survey of occupational hazards in Minnesota veterinary practices in 2012. J Am Vet Med Assoc 248:207–218. doi: 10.2460/javma.248.2.207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fukunaga M, Takahashi Y, Tsuruta Y, Matsushita O, Ralph D, McClelland M, Nakao M (1995) Genetic and phenotypic analysis of Borrelia miyamotoi sp nov, isolated from the ixodid tick Ixodes persulcatus, the vector for Lyme disease in Japan. Int J Syst Bacteriol 45:804–810.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goossens HAT, van den Bogaard AE, Nohlmans MKE (2001) Dogs as sentinels for human Lyme borreliosis in The Netherlands. J Clin Microbiol 39:844–848. doi: 10.1128/jcm.39.3.844-848.2001

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Guerra MA, Walker ED, Kitron U (2001) Canine surveillance system for Lyme borreliosis in Wisconsin and northern Illinois: Geographic distribution and risk factor analysis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 65:546–552.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guptill L, Wu CC, HogenEsch H, Stater LN, Glickman N, Dunham A, Syme H, Glickman L (2004) Prevalence, risk factors, and genetic diversity of Bartonella henselae—infections in pet cats in four regions of the United States. J Clin Microbiol 42:652–659. doi: 10.1128/jcm.42.2.652-659.2004

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Kordick SK, Breitschwerdt EB, Hegarty BC, Southwick KL, Colitz CM, Hancock SI, Bradley JM, Rumbough R, McPherson JT, MacCormack JN (1999) Coinfection with multiple tick-borne pathogens in a Walker Hound kennel in North Carolina. J Clin Microbiol 37:2631–2638.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lantos PM, Maggi RG, Ferguson B, Varkey J, Park LP, Breitschwerdt EB, Woods CW (2014) Detection of Bartonella Species in the Blood of Veterinarians and Veterinary Technicians: A Newly Recognized Occupational Hazard? Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis 14:563–570. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2013.1512

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ley C, Olshen EM, Reingold AL (1995) Case-Control Study of Risk Factors for Incident Lyme Disease in California. Am J Epidemiol 142:S39–S47. doi: 10.1093/aje/142.Supplement_9.S39

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Luria BJ, Levy JK, Lappin MR, Breitschwerdt EB, Legendre AM, Hernandez JA, Gorman SP, Lee IT (2004) Prevalence of infectious diseases in feral cats in Northern Florida. J Feline Med Surg 6:287–296.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maggi RG, Ericson M, Mascarelli PE, Bradley JM, Breitschwerdt EB (2013) Bartonella henselae bacteremia in a mother and son potentially associated with tick exposure. Parasit Vectors. doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-101

    Google Scholar 

  • Maggi RG, Mascarelli PE, Pultorak EL, Hegarty BC, Bradley JM, Mozayeni BR, Breitschwerdt EB (2011) Bartonella spp. bacteremia in high-risk immunocompetent patients. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 71:430–437. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2011.09.001

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra SK, Murjaneh S, Morgan MS, Simcock PR, Glover S (2007) Papillitis, Lyme disease, and cats. Eye 21:850–851. doi: 10.1038/sj.eye.6702705

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Molloy PJ, Telford III SR, Chowdri HR, Lepore TJ, Gugliotta JL, Weeks KE, Hewins ME, Goethert HK, Berardi VP (2015) Borrelia miyamotoi disease in the northeastern United States a case series. Ann Intern Med 163:91–98. doi: 10.7326/m15-0333

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nadolny R, Gaff H, Carlsson J, Gauthier D (2015) Comparative population genetics of two invading ticks: Evidence of the ecological mechanisms underlying tick range expansions. Infect Genet Evol 35:153–162. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2015.08.009

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Nadolny RM, Wright CL, Hynes WL, Sonenshine DE, Gaff HD, Clark C (2011) Ixodes affinis (Acari: Ixodidae) in southeastern Virginia and implications for the spread of Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease. J Vector Ecol 36:464–467.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Norman AF, Regnery R, Jameson P, Greene C, Krause DC (1995) Differentiation of Bartonella-like isolates at the species level by PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism in the citrate synthase gene. J Clin Microbiol 33:1797–1803.

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Rand PW, Smith RP, Lacombe EH (1991) Canine seroprevalence and the distribution of Ixodes dammini in an area of emerging Lyme disease. Am J Public Health 81:1331–1334.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Schwartz BS, Nadelman RB, Fish D, Childs JE, Forseter G, Wormser GP (1993) Entomologic and demographic correlates of antitick saliva antibody in a prospective study of tick bite subjects in Westchester County, New York. Am J Trop Med Hyg 48:50–57.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sonenshine DE (1979) Insects of Virginia No. 13. Ticks of Virginia (Acari: Metastigmata). Res Div Bull 139.

  • Taylor KR, Takano A, Konnai S, Shimozuru M, Kawabata H, Tsubota T (2013) Borrelia miyamotoi Infections among Wild Rodents Show Age and Month Independence and Correlation with Ixodes persulcatus Larval Attachment in Hokkaido, Japan. Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis 13:92–97. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2012.1027

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Telford III SR, Goethert HK, Molloy PJ, Berardi VP, Chowdri HR, Gugliotta JL, Lepore TJ (2015) Borrelia miyamotoi disease neither Lyme disease nor relapsing fever. Clin Lab Med 35:867–882. doi: 10.1016/j.cll.2015.08.002

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Wagemakers A, Staarink PJ, Sprong H, Hovius JWR (2015) Borrelia miyamotoi: a widespread tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete. Trends Parasitol 31:260–269. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2015.03.008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wehinger KA, Roelke ME, Greiner EC (1995) Ixodid ticks from panthers and bobcats in Florida. J Wildl Dis 31:480–485.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wright CL, Hynes WL, White BT, Marshall MN, Gaff HD, Gauthier DT (2014) Single-tube real-time PCR assay for differentiation of Ixodes affinis and Ixodes scapularis. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 5:48–52. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2013.08.003

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project was supported, in part, by a Robert Smart Summer Research Fellowship Award to ABS. We would also like to thank the pet owners who consented to sample collection from their cats. Dr. Shingo Sato provided technical assistance with molecular Bartonella detection and characterization and IDEXX Laboratories generously donated the 4DX SNAP tests that were used to complete this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA, 23173, USA

    Avery B. Shannon & R. Jory Brinkerhoff

  2. Mid Atlantic Cat Hospital, Queenstown, MD, USA

    Renee Rucinsky

  3. Department of Biology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Holly D. Gaff

  4. School of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Holly D. Gaff

  5. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

    R. Jory Brinkerhoff

Authors
  1. Avery B. Shannon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Renee Rucinsky
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Holly D. Gaff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. R. Jory Brinkerhoff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to R. Jory Brinkerhoff.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Shannon, A.B., Rucinsky, R., Gaff, H.D. et al. Borrelia miyamotoi, Other Vector-Borne Agents in Cat Blood and Ticks in Eastern Maryland. EcoHealth 14, 816–820 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1268-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1268-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation