Emerg Infect DiseidEmerging Infectious Diseases1080-60401080-6059Centers for Disease Control102218862640694Research ArticleGenospecies diversity of Lyme disease spirochetes in rodent reservoirs.RichterD.dania.richter@charite.deEndepolsS.OhlenbuschA.EiffertH.SpielmanA.MatuschkaF. R.Medizinische Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.Mar-Apr199952291296

To determine whether particular Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. genospecies associate solely with rodent reservoir hosts, we compared the genospecies prevalence in questing nymphal Ixodes ticks with that in xenodiagnostic ticks that had fed as larvae on rodents captured in the same site. No genospecies was more prevalent in rodent-fed ticks than in questing ticks. The three main spirochete genospecies, therefore, share common rodent hosts.