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First Detection and Molecular Identification of Borrelia burgdorferi-like Spirochetes in Ixodes granulatus Ticks Collected on Kinmen Island of Taiwan

Borrelia burgdorferi-like spirochetes were detected for the first time in Ixodes granulatus ticks collected in Taiwan. The genetic identities of these detected spirochetes were determined by analyzing the gene sequences amplified by a genospecies-specific polymerase chain reaction assay based on the outer surface protein A (OspA) gene of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. Phylogenetic analysis reveals that the sequence similarity of these spirochetes, ranging from 90.5% to 98.7% is highly homogeneous within the B. burgdorferi sensu stricto genospecies and clearly distinguishable from other Borrelia genospecies. These results provide the first evidence of B. burgdorferi spirochetes detected in I. granulatus ticks and confirm their genetic relationship to B. burgdorferi sensu stricto.

Received August 28, 2008. Accepted for publication December 2, 2008.

Financial support: This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Council (NSC96-2314-B-016-025-MY3), Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.

^* Address correspondence to Chien-Ming Shih, Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. E-mail: cmshih{at}ndmctsgh.edu.tw

Authors’ addresses: Li-Lian Chao and Wen-Jer Wu, Department and Graduate Institute of Entomology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China. Chien-Ming Shih, Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China, E-mail: cmshih{at}ndmctsgh.edu.tw.

Reprint requests: Chien-Ming Shih, Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.