| dc.description.abstract | Our knowledge about the species participating in the life cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato bacteria, which cause the Lyme disease, is not complete. In this study, wich was a part of a greater, three-year examination, we collected data about the Borrelia infection in the hedgehogs, in their ticks and in the ticks from the vegetation on Margaret Island and tried to assess the human health risk of the infection.
We collected hedgehogs from March to November in 2011 monthly, and morphological data, tissue sample and ectoparasites were collected from them. The ticks and the fleas were indentified. DNA was extracted from a subset of the ticks collected from the 2010 hedgehogs and from the vegetation and from all tissue samples, and the Borrelia infection was investigated with the help of polymerase chain reaction. The exact species was determined by sequencing. Questing ticks were collected by flagging between April 2011 and August 2012. We tried to assess with an on-line questionnaire how many people meet ticks and get infected with Borrelia on the Margaret Island. | en |
