Experimental Infections of Mosquitoes with Borrelia burgdorferi, the Etiologic Agent of Lyme Disease

The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi , is transmitted primarily by ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. Nymphs of Ixodes dammini are considered primary vectors of this agent to humans and wildlife in the northeastern United States. Biting insects have also been infected with B. burgdorferi . Aside from two reports that associate the development of erythema migrans, a skin lesion diagnostic for Lyme disease, with the bites of deer flies or mosquitoes, little is known about the role of hematophagous insects in the ecology or epidemiology of this newly recognized illness. This study was conducted to evaluate an in vitro method for infecting mosquitoes and to determine if B. burgdorferi can survive in their digestive tracts.