Co‐infections and transmission dynamics in a tick‐borne bacterium community exposed to songbirds. (18th January 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Heylen, Dieter; Fonville, Manoj; van Leeuwen, Arieke Docters; Sprong, Hein
• Is Part Of: Environmental microbiology. Volume 18:Number 3(2016:Mar.)
• Page Start: 988
• Page End: 996
• Publication Date: 2016-01-18
• Subjects: Microbial ecology -- Periodicals; Environmental Microbiology -- Periodicals; 579.17
• DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.13164
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1462-2912

Abstract

Summary: We investigated the transmission dynamics of a community of tick‐borne pathogenic bacteria in a common European songbird ( P arus major ). Tick‐naïve birds were infested with three successive batches (spaced 5 days apart) of field‐collected I xodes ricinus nymphs, carrying the following tick‐borne bacteria: R ickettsia helvetica (16.9%), B orrelia garinii (1.9%), B orrelia miyamotoi (1.6%), A naplasma phagocytophilum (1.2%) and C andidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (0.4%). Fed ticks were screened for the pathogens after moulting to the next developmental phase. We found evidence for early transmission (within 2.75 days after exposure) of R . helvetica and B . garinii, and to a lesser extent of A . phagocytophilum based on the increased infection rates of ticks during the first infestation. The proportion of ticks infected with R . helvetica remained constant over the three infestations. In contrast, the infection rate of B . garinii in the ticks increased over the three infestations, indicating a more gradual development of host tissue infection. No interactions were found among the different bacterium species during transmission. Birds did not transmit or amplify the other bacterial species. We show that individual birds can transmit several pathogenic bacterium species at the same time using different mechanisms, and that the transmission facilitation by birds increases the frequency of co‐infections in ticks.