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ABSTRACTBy using multilocus sequence analysis, five Borrelia valaisiana-related strains isolated from rodents and ticks in southwestern China were eventually classified as a new genospecies of B. burgdorferisensu lato rather than B. valaisiana. The finding explained the differences in transmission cycle and phenotype between B. valaisianastrains from Europe and B. valaisiana-related strains from eastern Asia.

ABSTRACTA total of 372 adult Ixodes persulcatusticks were collected from vegetation in a forest area of Heilongjiang Province in northeastern China, where Lyme disease is known to be endemic. The ticks were examined for the presence of granulocytic ehrlichiae by heminested PCR with primers derived from the 16S rRNA gene. Of 310 ticks obtained from the Dahe forestry farm, two pools (each containing 5 ticks) were found positive, with a minimum infection rate of 0.6%. Ehrlichial DNA was also detected in one female (1.6%) of 62 ticks collected from the Yulin forestry farm. The overall minimum infection rate of the 372 I. persulcatusadults was 0.8%. The nucleotide sequences of 919-bp PCR products from the three positive tick specimens were identical to each other and very closely related to the members of the Ehrlichia phagocytophilagenogroup. This is the first identification of granulocytic ehrlichiae in ticks in Asia and the first report of infection in I. persulcatusanywhere.

ABSTRACTA total of 717 ticks collected from southern China were examined by nested PCR for the presence of Ehrlichia chaffeensis. Sixteen (55.2%) of 29 adult Amblyomma testudinariumticks and 28 (11.7%) of 240 adult and at least 4.2% of 215 nymphal (pooled specimens) Haemaphysalis yeniticks tested positive. Four other species of ticks were negative. Selected positive amplicons were confirmed by DNA sequencing.