@article {785,
	title = {Lone star tick-infecting borreliae are most closely related to the agent of bovine borreliosis.},
	journal = {J Clin Microbiol},
	volume = {39},
	year = {2001},
	month = {2001 Feb},
	pages = {494-7},
	abstract = {Although Borrelia theileri, the agent of bovine borreliosis, was described at the turn of the century (in 1903), its relationship with borreliae causing Lyme disease or relapsing fever remains undescribed. We tested the previously published hypothesis that spirochetes infecting Lone Star ticks (Amblyomma americanum) may comprise B. theileri by analyzing the 16S ribosomal DNAs (rDNAs) and flagellin genes of these spirochetes. B. theileri, the Amblyomma agent, and B. miyamotoi formed a natural group or clade distinct from but most closely related to that of the relapsing fever spirochetes. B. theileri and the Amblyomma agent were 97 and 98\% similar at the nucleotide level within the analyzed portions of the 16S rDNA and the flagellin gene respectively, suggesting a recent divergence. The agent of bovine borreliosis might be explored as a surrogate antigen for the as-yet-uncultivatable Amblyomma agent in studies designed to explore the etiology of a Lyme disease-like infection associated with Lone Star ticks.},
	keywords = {Animals, Borrelia, Borrelia Infections, Cattle, Cattle Diseases, Flagellin, Humans, Lyme Disease, Phylogeny, Relapsing Fever, RNA, Bacterial, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Species Specificity, Tick-Borne Diseases, Ticks},
	issn = {0095-1137},
	doi = {10.1128/JCM.39.2.494-497.2001},
	author = {Rich, S M and Armstrong, P M and Smith, R D and Telford, S R}
}
@article {801,
	title = {Competence of Peromyscus maniculatus (Rodentia: Cricetidae) as a reservoir host for Borrelia burgdorferi (Spirochaetares: Spirochaetaceae) in the wild.},
	journal = {J Med Entomol},
	volume = {30},
	year = {1993},
	month = {1993 May},
	pages = {614-8},
	abstract = {Although capable of maintaining and transmitting Borrelia burgdorferi Johnson, Schmidt, Hyde, Steigerwalt \& Brenner, the causative spirochete of Lyme disease, in the laboratory, the specific ability of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus Le Conte, to support this zoonosis has not been established. Demonstration that P. maniculatus is a competent reservoir host in the wild would indicate that the spread of Lyme disease is not limited to the range of the primary reservoir host, P. leucopus Rafinesque. Isle au Haut, an offshore Maine island upon which the vector tick Ixodes dammini Spielman, Clifford, Piesman \& Corwin has become established, supports an isolated population of mice that are exclusively P. maniculatus. We examined the reservoir competence of this species by comparing infection rates of B. burgdorferi among juvenile ticks removed from livetrapped mice on this island with those removed from P. leucopus obtained at a mainland site endemic for Lyme disease. Equivalent rates of infection among engorged larval ticks, survival of infection through the larval-nymphal molt, and the isolation of B. burgdorferi from mice at both sites attest to the reservoir competence of P. maniculatus.},
	keywords = {Animals, Borrelia burgdorferi Group, Host-Parasite Interactions, Lyme Disease, Peromyscus, Ticks},
	issn = {0022-2585},
	author = {Rand, P W and Lacombe, E H and Smith, R P and Rich, S M and Kilpatrick, C W and Dragoni, C A and Caporale, D}
}
@article {800,
	title = {Norway rats as reservoir hosts for Lyme disease spirochetes on Monhegan Island, Maine.},
	journal = {J Infect Dis},
	volume = {168},
	year = {1993},
	month = {1993 Sep},
	pages = {687-91},
	abstract = {To determine whether the agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, may be maintained in the absence of its usual white-footed mouse reservoir host, Ixodes dammini ticks from an island where mice are absent were examined. Prevalence of spirochetal infection was described for ticks removed from mammals, birds, and vegetation on Monhegan Island, Maine. Forty percent of adult I. dammini removed from vegetation were infected. Norway rats were heavily infested with ticks, and > 60\% of such ticks contained spirochetes. Other hosts were less frequently infested by ticks, and few such ticks were infected by spirochetes. The prevalence of antibody to B. burgdorferi was 23\% in dogs and cats; 4\% of island residents had Lyme disease. Thus, rats maintain Lyme disease spirochetes on Monhegan Island, and there may be transmission of this agent by I. dammini to island residents and their pets.},
	keywords = {Animals, Animals, Domestic, Antibodies, Bacterial, Borrelia burgdorferi Group, Cats, Disease Reservoirs, Disease Vectors, Dogs, Geography, Humans, Incidence, Lyme Disease, Maine, Rats, Ticks},
	issn = {0022-1899},
	author = {Smith, R P and Rand, P W and Lacombe, E H and Telford, S R and Rich, S M and Piesman, J and Spielman, A}
}
