Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato
infection in blood donors and park rangers in relation to local
habitat.

Zentralbl Bakteriol. 1998 Oct;288(2):293-301.

Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infection in
blood donors and park rangers in relation to local habitat.

Robertson JN, Gray JS, MacDonald S, Johnson H.

Lyme Disease Reference Unit, Southampton General Hospital, UK.
Abstract

Serum samples were obtained from blood donors in eleven selected
locations in Ireland and tested for antibodies to Borrelia
burgdorferi s.l. by enzyme immunoassay (EIA) and immunoblot (IB).
The highest seroprevalence (8.7%) was found in Portumna, an area
rated as high risk because of the presence of public access
woodland harbouring both ticks and spirochaete reservoir hosts.
The lowest seroprevalence (0.0%) was found in Ballina, an area
where there is no suitable woodland though ticks are common on
pastures grazed by cattle and sheep. These results support the
findings of an earlier less extensive study and suggest that
infection with B. burgdorferi s.l. in Ireland is mainly
associated with mixed woodland containing deer and a variety of
spirochaete reservoir hosts. The lack of association of
tick-infested farmland with seropositive samples suggests that
exposure to ticks alone is not a reliable indicator of risk of
Lyme borreliosis. This is supported by the fact that none of 38
park rangers, all of whom are regularly bitten by ticks, were
seropositive for B. burgdorferi s.l. The low overall
seroprevalence of 3.4% in Ireland correlates with the rarity of
clinical cases compared with continental European countries, and
is due in part to the scarcity of high risk Lyme borreliosis
habitat.

PMID: 9809409 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]