Rickettsia spp. in small mammals and their parasitizing ectoparasites from Saxony, Germany.

Rickettsiae are emerging pathogens causing various types of spotted fever and typhus and are mostly transmitted by arthropods to humans and animals. In order to investigate the distribution of Rickettsiae of the spotted fever group (SFG) in small mammals as potential reservoirs and in fleas and ticks from these animals as potential vectors, a total of 91 small mammals (seven species) were captured and their ectoparasites were collected at seven sites around Leipzig, Saxony, Germany, in 2010 and 2011. Altogether, 91 skin samples, 125 fleas (five species) and 363 ticks (four species) were investigated for DNA of Rickettsia spp.

Prevalence and Genotype Allocation of Pathogenic Leptospira Species in Small Mammals from Various Habitat Types in Germany.

Small mammals serve as most important reservoirs for Leptospira spp., the causative agents of Leptospirosis, which is one of the most neglected and widespread zoonotic diseases worldwide. The knowledge about Leptospira spp.

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis and Anaplasma phagocytophilum: prevalences and investigations on a new transmission path in small mammals and ixodid ticks.

Background: Small mammals are crucial for the life history of ixodid ticks, but their role and importance in the transmission cycle of tick-borne pathogens is mostly unknown. Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) and Anaplasma phagocytophilum are both tick-borne pathogens, and rodents are discussed to serve as main reservoir hosts for CNM but not for the latter especially in Germany. Analysing the prevalence of both pathogens in small mammals and their ticks in endemic regions may help to elucidate possible transmission paths in small mammal populations and between small mammals and ticks.

Leptospira spp. in rodents and shrews in Germany.

Leptospirosis is an acute, febrile disease occurring in humans and animals worldwide. Leptospira spp. are usually transmitted through direct or indirect contact with the urine of infected reservoir animals.

Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis in rodents in an area with sympatric existence of the hard ticks Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus, Germany.

Background: Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis (CNM) has been described in the hard tick Ixodes ricinus and rodents as well as in some severe cases of human disease. The aims of this study were to identify DNA of CNM in small mammals, the ticks parasitizing them and questing ticks in areas with sympatric existence of Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus in Germany.

Methods: Blood, transudate and organ samples (spleen, kidney, liver, skin) of 91 small mammals and host-attached ticks from altogether 50 small mammals as well as questing I.

Babesia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in questing ticks, ticks parasitizing rodents and the parasitized rodents--analyzing the host-pathogen-vector interface in a metropolitan area.

Background: The aims of this study were to evaluate the host-tick-pathogen interface of Babesia spp. and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in restored areas in both questing and host-attached Ixodes ricinus and Dermacentor reticulatus and their small mammalian hosts.

Methods: Questing ticks were collected from 5 sites within the city of Leipzig, Germany, in 2009.