ABSTRACT
Lyme borreliosis (LB) is one of the most common vector-borne diseases transmitted by ticks. It is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) genospecies. The Almaty oblast of Kazakhstan is considered endemic for LB. Nevertheless, there are significant gaps in the tick surveillance for LB agents in the region. We evaluated B. burgdorferi s.l. prevalence in 413 ixodid ticks collected from bitten people and the seroprevalence of antibodies to B. burgdorferi s.l. in 589 residents of the Almaty oblast, Kazakhstan. All samples were collected between 2018 and 2020. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. DNA was detected in 24 % (9/38) of I. persulcatus ticks that attacked humans in the city of Almaty and the Talgar and Karasay districts. Multilocus sequence typing identified two novel B. afzelii sequence types in I. persulcatus. The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. in the analyzed population was detected to be 5.8 %. The obtained results confirm active circulation of B. burgdorferi s.l. in the Almaty oblast of Kazakhstan and raise concern regarding LB preventive measures in the region.
Subject(s)
Borrelia burgdorferi Group/isolation & purification , Ixodidae/microbiology , Animals , Female , Kazakhstan , Male , Population Surveillance , Seroepidemiologic StudiesABSTRACT
Tick-borne diseases (TBDs), in particular Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), have been found to be expanding beyond their traditional geographic locations in Kazakhstan, which led to increased awareness and concern against TBDs in recent years. The tick fauna of Kazakhstan includes more than 30 species of human-biting ixodid ticks, recognized as carriers of a number of dangerous infectious pathogens that cause CCHF, TBE, tularemia, tick-borne rickettsioses and Lyme borreliosis. This paper presents the current knowledge of the main vectors of tick-borne pathogens (TBP) occurring in Kazakhstan, as well as a review of recent studies of ticks performed with the use of molecular methods being currently developed and widely utilized by Kazakh epidemiologists.
