Volume 7, Number 5—October 2001
Dispatch
Ehrlichia-Infected Ticks on Migrating Birds
Anneli Bjöersdorff*†, Sven Bergström‡, Robert F. Massung§, Paul D. Haemig*‡, and Björn Olsen*‡
Table
Migrating birds carrying Ixodes ricinus ticks and the frequency of infection with Ehrlichia sp. in bird-borne ticks, Sweden, 1996
| No. of birds infested/no. examined | Ehrlichia DNA detected by
PCR of ticks examined |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird speciesa | (%) | No. of ticks | Larvae | Nymphs | Adults |
| Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) | 1/10 (10) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Dunnock (Prunella modularis) | 1/33 (3) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) | 1/5 (20) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Icterine Warbler(Hippolais icterina) | 1/12 (8) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Garden Warbler (Sylvia borin) | 2/79 (2.5) | 2 | 0/1 | 0/1 | |
| Blackcap (S. atricapilla) | 3/26 (11.5) | 3 | 0/1 | 1/2 | |
| Whitethroat (S. communis) | 1/29 (3.4) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Greenish Warbler(Phylloscopus trochiloides) | 1/1 (100) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Willow Warbler (P. trochilus) | 3/1,025 (2.9) | 4 | 0/4 | ||
| Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) | 1/892 (0.1) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Pied Flycatcher(Ficedula hypoleuca) | 1/22 (4.5) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Collared Flycatcher(F. albicollis) | 1/2 (50) | 1 | 0/1 | ||
| Redstart (Phoenicurus phoenicurus) | 7/76 (9.2) | 28 | 0/11 | 1/17 | |
| Robin (Erithacus rubecula) | 33/655 (5) | 54 | 0/14 | 3/40b | |
| Thrush Nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) | 5/27 (18.5) | 22 | 0/8 | 2/14 | |
| Blackbird (Turdus merula) | 5/41 (12.2) | 27 | 0/7 | 1/19c | 0/1 |
| Song Thrush (T. philomelus) | 4/24 (16.7) | 14 | 0/2 | 1/12 | |
| Bullfinch(Pyrrhula pyrrhula) |
2/27 (7.4) |
2 |
0/2 |
||
| Total | 73/2,986 (2.4) | 165 | 0/51 | 9/112 | 0/2 |
aBird species sampled that did not carry ticks are not listed.
bOne of these infected ticks was collected in the autumn.
cThis infected tick was collected in the autumn.
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