Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in the Czech Republic

The aim of this thesis was to assess the occurrence of two tick- borne bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and Anaplasma pha- gocytophilum, in ticks, wild and domestic animals in the Czech Republic. In ticks, similar prevalence of both bacteria was ob- served. In rodents, the majority of infections were caused by B. afzelii while the infection with B. burgdorferi s. s. was also quite frequent. Infection with B. burgdorferi s. l. was more common in bank voles than in wood or yellow-necked mice. The prevalence of anti-Borrelia antibodies was higher in wood or yellow-necked mice than in bank voles. A. phagocytophilum was in a higher percentage of cases in the deer family and hares as compared to foxes and boars. We observed a similar prevalence of anaplasmosis in all domestic animals tested. We demonstrated that symptomatic dogs had a higher chance to be infected with A. phagocytophilum than asymptomatic dogs. Our findings suggest that the exposure to B. burgdorferi s. l. and A. phagocytophilum is common in vectors, reservoirs and hosts in the Czech Republic. Molecular and serological techniques for detection of these pathogens are also described in this thesis, including conven- tional PCR, nested PCR, real-time PCR with DNA quantification and melting curve analysis, RFLP analysis of the 5S-23S..