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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 1999, p. 707-711, Vol. 65, No. 2
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characteristics of Garden Dormice That Contribute to Their Capacity as Reservoirs for Lyme Disease Spirochetes

Franz-Rainer Matuschka,1,2 Rainer Allgöwer,1 Andrew Spielman,2 and Dania Richter1,2,*

Institut für Pathologie, Charité, Medizinische Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 12249 Berlin, Germany,1 and Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 021152

Received 20 July 1998/Accepted 23 November 1998

To describe the contribution of garden dormice to the epizootiology of Lyme disease, we compared their reservoir capacity for these pathogens to that of other sympatric hosts. Garden dormice are trapped most abundantly during early spring and again during midsummer, when their offspring forage. They are closely associated with moist forests. Garden dormice serve as hosts to nymphal ticks far more frequently than do other small mammals. Spirochetal infection is most prevalent in dormice, and many more larval ticks acquire infection in the course of feeding on these than on other rodents in the study site. Mature dormice appear to contribute more infections to the vector population than juveniles do. Replete larval ticks generally detach while their dormouse hosts remain within their nests. The population of garden dormice contributes five- to sevenfold more infections to the vector population than the mouse population does. Their competence, nymphal feeding density, and preference for a tick-permissive habitat combine to favor garden dormice over other putative reservoir hosts of Lyme disease spirochetes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432 1796. Fax: (617) 738 4914. E-mail: drichter{at}hsph.harvard.edu.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 1999, p. 707-711, Vol. 65, No. 2
0099-2240/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Richter, D., Matuschka, F.-R. (2006). Perpetuation of the Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia lusitaniae by Lizards.. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 4627-4632 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Gil, H., Barral, M., Escudero, R., Garcia-Perez, A. L., Anda, P. (2005). Identification of a New Borrelia Species among Small Mammals in Areas of Northern Spain Where Lyme Disease Is Endemic. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 1336-1345 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Richter, D., Schlee, D. B., Allgower, R., Matuschka, F.-R. (2004). Relationships of a Novel Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia spielmani sp. nov., with Its Hosts in Central Europe. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 70: 6414-6419 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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