Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 25, 2026
07:20
Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR
Published on: February 4, 2018
Estimating Lyme disease risk using pet dogs as sentinels
Faith D Smith1, Rachel Ballantyne, Eric R Morgan
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, UK. Faith.Smith@bristol.ac.uk
Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
|January 20, 2012
Summary
Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato) may be more prevalent in UK ticks than previously thought. Studies using pet dogs as sentinels found a higher prevalence of infected ticks, indicating a potential risk to humans.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Medicine
- Epidemiology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato) cases are suspected to be increasing in the UK.
- Consistent surveillance data for Lyme disease in the UK is lacking.
- Pet dogs share environments with humans and can serve as sentinels for tick-borne disease risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi in ticks attached to pet dogs in the UK.
- To use pet dogs as sentinels to estimate human exposure risk to infected ticks.
Main Methods:
- Collected 739 tick samples from 3534 randomly selected dogs visiting veterinary practices over six months.
- Utilized Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to detect Borrelia burgdorferi in tick samples.
Main Results:
- The overall prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi-infected ticks found on dogs was 0.5%.
- This equates to an estimated 481 infected ticks per 100,000 dogs.
- The findings suggest a higher prevalence of Borrelia in UK ticks than previously estimated.
Conclusions:
- Pet dogs can act as effective sentinels for assessing Lyme disease risk in the UK.
- The prevalence of Borrelia in UK ticks may be significantly underestimated by current data.
- Further surveillance is needed to accurately assess Lyme disease risk in the UK population.
