Monitoring of pathogenic Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the Almaty oblast, Kazakhstan

Yekaterina O Ostapchuk; Yuliya V Perfilyeva; Andrey V Zhigailov; Elina R Maltseva; Alena S Neupokoyeva; Akerke O Bissenbay; Zhanna A Berdygulova; Dinara A Naizabayeva; Anna S Nizkorodova; Zhanna Zh Shapiyeva; Ravilya A Yegemberdiyeva; Tatyana V Kuznetsova; Saltanat Kuatbekova; Assiya Akanova; Gulnara A Ismagulova; Seidigapbar M Mamadaliyev; Andrey M Dmitrovskiy; Yuriy A Skiba

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101725

Monitoring of pathogenic Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in the Almaty oblast, Kazakhstan

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2021 Jul;12(4):101725. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101725. Epub 2021 Apr 9.

Authors

Yekaterina O Ostapchuk¹, Yuliya V Perfilyeva¹, Andrey V Zhigailov¹, Elina R Maltseva¹, Alena S Neupokoyeva², Akerke O Bissenbay³, Zhanna A Berdygulova⁴, Dinara A Naizabayeva¹, Anna S Nizkorodova¹, Zhanna Zh Shapiyeva⁵, Ravilya A Yegemberdiyeva⁶, Tatyana V Kuznetsova², Saltanat Kuatbekova², Assiya Akanova⁷, Gulnara A Ismagulova¹, Seidigapbar M Mamadaliyev², Andrey M Dmitrovskiy², Yuriy A Skiba⁸

Affiliations

¹ Almaty Branch of the National Center for Biotechnology, 14 Zhahanger St., Almaty, 050054, Kazakhstan; M.A. Aitkhozhin's Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, 86 Dosmukhamedov St., Almaty, 050012, Kazakhstan.
² Almaty Branch of the National Center for Biotechnology, 14 Zhahanger St., Almaty, 050054, Kazakhstan.
³ Almaty Branch of the National Center for Biotechnology, 14 Zhahanger St., Almaty, 050054, Kazakhstan; M.A. Aitkhozhin's Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, 86 Dosmukhamedov St., Almaty, 050012, Kazakhstan; Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 Al-Farabi Av., Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan.
⁴ Almaty Branch of the National Center for Biotechnology, 14 Zhahanger St., Almaty, 050054, Kazakhstan; Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71 Al-Farabi Av., Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan.
⁵ Scientific Practical Center of Sanitary Epidemiological Expertise and Monitoring, 84 Auezov St., Almaty, 050008, Kazakhstan.
⁶ Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, 94 Tole bi St., Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan.
⁷ Kazakh Medical University of Counting Education, 34 Manas St., Almaty, 050000, Kazakhstan.
⁸ Almaty Branch of the National Center for Biotechnology, 14 Zhahanger St., Almaty, 050054, Kazakhstan; M.A. Aitkhozhin's Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, 86 Dosmukhamedov St., Almaty, 050012, Kazakhstan. Electronic address: yuriy.skiba@gmail.com.

PMID: 33865176
DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2021.101725

Abstract

Lyme borreliosis (LB) is one of the most common vector-borne diseases transmitted by ticks. It is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) genospecies. The Almaty oblast of Kazakhstan is considered endemic for LB. Nevertheless, there are significant gaps in the tick surveillance for LB agents in the region. We evaluated B. burgdorferi s.l. prevalence in 413 ixodid ticks collected from bitten people and the seroprevalence of antibodies to B. burgdorferi s.l. in 589 residents of the Almaty oblast, Kazakhstan. All samples were collected between 2018 and 2020. Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. DNA was detected in 24 % (9/38) of I. persulcatus ticks that attacked humans in the city of Almaty and the Talgar and Karasay districts. Multilocus sequence typing identified two novel B. afzelii sequence types in I. persulcatus. The seroprevalence of IgG antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. in the analyzed population was detected to be 5.8 %. The obtained results confirm active circulation of B. burgdorferi s.l. in the Almaty oblast of Kazakhstan and raise concern regarding LB preventive measures in the region.

Keywords: Almaty oblast; Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato; Ixodid ticks; Kazakhstan; Seroprevalence.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Borrelia burgdorferi Group / isolation & purification*
Female
Ixodidae / microbiology*
Kazakhstan
Male
Population Surveillance
Seroepidemiologic Studies