{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T21:01:28Z","timestamp":1778706088165,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,3]],"date-time":"2022-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1648944000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>We aimed to determine the presence and distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from urbanized and wild areas in Kaylaka Park (Bulgaria). A total of 546 ticks were collected over three years (2017\u20132019). The presence of Borrelia in 334 of the collected I. ricinus was detected by dark-field microscopy (DFM) and two nested PCRs (nPCR) targeting the borrelial 5S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer and Flagellin B (FlaB) gene. DFM was performed on a total of 215 ticks, of which 86 (40%) were positive. PCR was performed on 153 of the ticks. In total, 42.5% of the 5S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer and 49% of FlaB were positive. Considering as positive any single tick in which Borrelia sp. was detected regardless of the used method, the infection rate reached 37% (10\/27) in the nymphs and 48.5% (149\/307) in the adults (48.7% (77\/158) females, 48.3% (72\/149) males). The incidence of B. burgdorferi infection in I. ricinus did not differ statistically significantly between female, male, and nymph. This study provides evidence that Lyme disease spirochetes are present in various regions of Kaylaka Park with extremely high prevalence in their vectors.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms10040772","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,3]],"date-time":"2022-04-03T06:04:01Z","timestamp":1648965841000},"page":"772","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in Ixodes ricinus Ticks Collected from Kaylaka Park in Pleven, Bulgaria"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0092-9488","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexander","family":"Blazhev","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Medical University-Pleven, 1 Kliment Ohridski Str., 5800 Pleven, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Iskren","family":"Stanilov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Medical Faculty, Trakia University, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0028-7692","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lyuba Dineva","family":"Miteva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Medical Faculty, Trakia University, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Milena","family":"Atanasova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biology, Medical University-Pleven, 1 Kliment Ohridski Str., 5800 Pleven, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Svetla","family":"Blazheva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Immunology, University Hospital, 5800 Pleven, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Spaska","family":"Stanilova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Medical Genetics, Medical Faculty, Trakia University, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1089\/vbz.2015.1885","article-title":"Increase in Ticks and Lyme Borreliosis, Yet Research into Its Prevention on the Wane","volume":"16","author":"Beaujean","year":"2016","journal-title":"Vector-Borne Zoonotic Dis."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.1080\/17843286.2019.1694293","article-title":"Lyme disease in Western Europe: An emerging problem? 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