摘要：Lyme disease is a tick-borne infectious disease caused by the
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. However, the distribution of
Borrelia genospecies and the tissue detection rate of
Borrelia in wild rodents have rarely been investigated. Here, we studied 27 wild rodents (
Apodemus agrarius) captured in October and November 2016 in Gwangju, South Korea, and performed nested polymerase chain reaction targeting
pyrG and
ospA to confirm
Borrelia infection. Eight rodents (29.6%) tested positive for
Borrelia infection. The heart showed the highest infection rate (7/27; 25.9%), followed by the spleen (4/27; 14.8%), kidney (2/27; 7.4%), and lungs (1/27; 3.7%). The
B. afzelii infection rate was 25.9%, with the highest rate observed in the heart (7/27; 25.9%), followed by that in the kidney and spleen (both 2/27; 7.4%).
B. garinii and
B. burgdorferi sensu stricto were detected only in the spleen (1/27; 3.7%). This is the first report of
B. burgdorferi sensu stricto infection in wild rodents in South Korea. The rodent hearts showed a high
B. afzelii infection rate, whereas the rodent spleens showed high
B. garinii and
B. burgdorferi sensu stricto infection rates. Besides
B. garinii and
B. afzelii,
B. burgdorferi sensu stricto may cause Lyme disease in South Korea.
