{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,24]],"date-time":"2026-06-24T16:47:45Z","timestamp":1782319665669,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,9]],"date-time":"2023-07-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1688860800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"internal funds of the Pasteur Institute Novi Sad"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are important tick-borne diseases in Europe. This study aimed to investigate the seroreactivity against Borrelia burgdorferi and TBE virus (TBEV) in tick-infested individuals in North Macedonia and Serbia. Serum samples were collected from tick-infested individuals and from healthy individuals in the same regions. Samples were tested for anti-Borrelia IgG reactivity and TBEV-neutralizing antibodies. Results showed higher seroreactivity against Borrelia antigens in patients and healthy donors from Novi Sad compared to those from the Skopje region. However, there was no statistically significant difference between tick-infested patients and healthy donors within each region. No TBEV-neutralizing antibodies were detected in participants from Novi Sad or in the control groups, except for one person from North Macedonia who had a moderate TBEV-neutralizing reaction. The study highlights the need for improved surveillance and diagnostic capabilities for LB and TBE in these regions. It also suggests the potential existence of TBEV foci in North Macedonia. The findings provide a complementary understanding of the LB and TBE epidemiology in the studied regions; however, further research is needed to investigate the presence and distribution of Borrelia spp. and TBEV in ticks to assess the significance of detected seroreactivity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens12070922","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,10]],"date-time":"2023-07-10T01:02:50Z","timestamp":1688950970000},"page":"922","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["Tick-Borne Encephalitis Virus and Borrelia burgdorferi Seroprevalence in Balkan Tick-Infested Individuals: A Two-Centre Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Dejan","family":"Jakimovski","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"},{"name":"University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sofija","family":"Mateska","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emilija","family":"Dimitrova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, City General Hospital 8th September, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mile","family":"Bosilkovski","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"},{"name":"University Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Conditions, 1000 Skopje, North Macedonia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dragana","family":"Mijatovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department for Research and Monitoring of Rabies and Other Zoonoses, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Verica","family":"Simin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ivana","family":"Bogdan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Microbiology, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3092-4768","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jasmina","family":"Gruji\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blood Transfusion Institute Vojvodina, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zorana","family":"Budakov-Obradovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blood Transfusion Institute Vojvodina, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2862-7182","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eleftherios","family":"Meletis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Public and One Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 24410 Karditsa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7051-1541","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Polychronis","family":"Kostoulas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Public and One Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, 24410 Karditsa, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alejandro","family":"Cabezas-Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Anses, INRAE, Ecole Nationale V\u00e9t\u00e9rinaire d\u2019Alfort, UMR BIPAR, Laboratoire de Sant\u00e9 Animale, F-94700 Maisons-Alfort, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7902-6606","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pavle","family":"Banovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Clinic for Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases, Pasteur Institute Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"},{"name":"Department of Microbiology with Parasitology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16090","DOI":"10.1038\/nrdp.2016.90","article-title":"Lyme borreliosis","volume":"2","author":"Steere","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. 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