BACKGROUND: Numerous recent studies have shown that ticks and tick-borne pathogens pose a considerable threat in urban areas, such as parks, playgrounds, zoos, cemeteries, etc. Abandoned postindustrial localities, and other types of vague terrain, are other examples of urban wilderness areas that have been absolutely neglected in respect to ticks and tick-borne pathogens thus far, even though they provide ideal biotopes for ticks. METHODS: The abundance of ticks and prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato spirochetes were compared between a city park and an adjacent abandoned construction waste disposal site in Prague, Czechia from June to October 2021. RESULTS: The results showed that ticks and borrelia spirochetes are present at the city park as well as at the abandoned construction waste disposal site, although in lower numbers. DISCUSSION: According to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing the presence of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in an urban postindustrial landscape. More detailed studies are needed to uncover the role of these localities in the ecology of ticks and ecoepidemiology of tick-borne diseases in urban areas.

• Klíčová slova
• Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Ixodes ricinus, postindustrial landscapes, ticks, urban landscapes, vague terrain,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

Ticks transmit a broad spectrum of pathogens, threatening both animal and human health. Tick survival and proliferation are strongly dependent on host selection and suitability. The hard tick Ixodes ricinus, which is widespread throughout most of Europe, is a host generalist capable of feeding on many different vertebrate species. Pasture-kept exotic farm animals may be at a high risk for tick and tick-borne pathogens infestations but research characterizing this is currently lacking. This study focused on the detection of Borrelia spirochetes (including Borrelia miyamotoi) in exotic farm animals. Using nested-PCR with Borrelia-specific primers, 121 serum samples from 54 exotic farm animals of several species bred in four different farms in Bohemia and Moravia (Czechia) were tested. Positive samples were sequenced for the identification of Borrelia species. The prevalence of Borrelia DNA in the samples ranged from 13 to 67%, depending on the sampling site. The sequencing results confirmed the DNA presence of multiple spirochete species from the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. Only one sample from an ostrich (Struthio camelus) was found to be positive for Borrelia myiamotoi. The results show that exotic farm animals can serve as hosts for hard ticks and can be infected by Borrelia spirochetes, transmitted by hard ticks. Therefore, these animals could play a relevant role in maintaining Borrelia spirochetes in nature.

• Klíčová slova
• Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Borrelia miyamotoi, Ixodes ricinus, tick, tick hosts, tick-borne pathogens,
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH