Migratory birds transmit borreliosis

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Migratory birds transmit borreliosis

20 May 2005

Birds carry bacteria across the hemispheres

Migratory birds transmit borreliosis

Migrating birds transmit different forms of the Borrelia bacterium or Borrelia

spirochetes to every corner of the globe. Birds are

especially prone to Borrelia infected ticks during their autumn and spring

migrations. The bacteria may also persist for several months in

the birds and it may then be reactivated in response to migration. Borrelia

spirochetes and the role of birds as global transmitters of the

bacteria have been investigated by a Swedish research group led by Professor

Sven Bergström. The group is part of a Finnish-Swedish research

consortium included in the Microbes and Man Research Programme, which is

co-funded by the Academy of Finland and the Swedish Foundation for

Strategic Research.

Migratory birds play an important role in the transmission of Lyme borreliosis.

The fact that the same type of Lyme disease exists in both

the northern and the southern hemisphere shows that birds participate in the

natural circulation of Borrelia spirochetes by carrying them

all across the globe.

Previously, it was thought that only mammals could function as reservoir hosts

for Borrelia infected ticks. The research results of the

Bergström group show that Borrelia infected ticks can exist in birds, as well -

i.e. without a mammal reservoir.

Lyme Borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by the Borrelia bacterium. It

can cause eczemas, arthritis and, at the worst, even

different kinds of neurological disorders. In Finland, a couple of thousand

people are infected by the disease each year.

MICMAN - Microbes and Man is a three-year research programme during 2003-2005.

The programme is implemented in Finnish-Swedish collaboration

and funded jointly by the Academy of Finland and the Swedish Foundation for

Strategic Research.

For further information:

- on the project: Professor Sven Bergström (Umeå University), tel. +46 0

90 785 67 26, sven.bergstrom@...

- on the MICMAN research programme: www.aka.fi/micman and Programme

Manager Soile Juuti, tel. +358 40 565 1529, soile.juuti@....

Academy of Finland, Communications

Communications Specialist Tiina Pohjois-Koivisto

Tel. +358 9 7748 8327, +358 40 833 2978

tiina.pohjois-koivisto@...

Print Last modified: 20.05.2005 08:15:53

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Per Sjöholm

Stockholm, Sweden