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We investigated the role of the western gray squirrel (Sciurus griseus) as a reservoir host of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. A survey of 222 western gray squirrels in California showed an overall prevalence of B. burgdorferi infection of 30%, although at a county level, prevalence of infection ranged from 0% to 50% by polymerase chain reaction. Laboratory trials with wild-caught western gray squirrels indicated that squirrels were competent reservoir hosts of the Lyme disease bacterium and infected up to 86% of feeding Ixodes pacificus larvae. Infections were long-lasting (up to 14 months), which demonstrated that western gray squirrels can maintain B. burgdorferi trans-seasonally. Non-native eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) and fox squirrels (Sciurus niger) were infrequently infected with B. burgdorferi.
Received June 9, 2008. Accepted for publication July 5, 2008.
Acknowledgments: We thank Walter Brown, Natalia Fedorova, Joyce Kleinjan, Bob Murray, Joan Wallace, and especially Esther Omi (University of California, Berkeley, CA) for assistance; Rick Brown, Bernadette Clueit, Desiree Early, Janet Foley, Alan Franklin, Bob Jones, Lisa Jones, Nate Nieto, and numerous Californian vector control or mosquito abatement districts for additional squirrel ear samples; and the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory for collecting tissue samples. We also thank the staff at the Annadel, China Camp, and Clear Lake State Parks (especially Bob Birkland); the staff at the Audubon Canyon Ranch – Bolinas Lagoon Preserve (especially Gwen Heistand); the staff at Bidwell Park; the staff at the Donald and Sylvia McLaughlin Natural Reserve (especially Cathy Koehler); the staff at the Hopland Research and Extension Center (especially Bob Timm); Les Dodge (Dodge Pheasant Farms); and the staff at the Quail Ridge Reserve for their assistance. We do not blame any of the aforementioned for our calamitous lack of success in catching squirrels at most of these locations.
Financial support: This study was supported by grant RO1AI022501 from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Disclaimer: The content of the report is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases or the National Institutes of Health.
* Address correspondence to Daniel J. Salkeld, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. E-mail: dsalkeld{at}nature.berkeley.edu
Authors’ addresses: Daniel J. Salkeld, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, Tel: 650-796-8229, Fax: 510-643-5438, E-mail: dsalkeld{at}nature.berkeley.edu and International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Conservation Union, Washington, DC 20009. Sarah Leonhard, Yvette A. Girard, Jeomhee Mun, and Robert S. Lane, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, Tel: 650-796-8229, Fax: 510-643-5438. Nina Hahn, Office of Laboratory Animal Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. Kerry A. Padgett, Vector-Borne Disease Section, Division of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA 94804.
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