Variable Exposure And Immunological Response To Lyme Disease Borrelia Among North Atlantic Seabird Species

Main Category: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry;  Veterinary
Article Date: 26 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT

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Host diversity and host-associated selection driven by the immune system are fundamental to virtually all aspects of infectious disease dynamics.

Here, we examine the potential role of avian immunity in the evolution and global epidemiology of Lyme disease bacteria in the marine transmission cycle.

We show that the seroprevalence and the repertoire of anti-Borrelia antibodies in seabirds vary among locations and seabird species.

These results likely reflect the host specific nature of the tick vector and the life history characteristics of the seabird host species. Understanding the details of the local transmission cycles of vector-borne pathogens is thus critical.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Proceedings B is the Royal Society's flagship biological research journal, dedicated to the rapid publication and broad dissemination of high-quality research papers, reviews and comment and reply papers. The scope of journal is diverse and is especially strong in organismal biology

Royal Society B: Biological Sciences