Studies on the contribution of birds to the Borrelia cycle focus mainly on their role in the dispersal of ticks over long distances during migration between breeding and wintering areas. However, birds also play a role in the local dynamics of tick populations and associated Borrelia during the bird breeding season, which coincides with the tick density and breeding peak (around May-June). Thus, there is considerable uncertainty about the determinants of spatial and temporal variations in the risk of Borrelia infection of birds, and their impact on human incidence, if the contribution of birds is ignored. The main objective of the work carried out as part of a PhD (Amalia Rataud) is to determine the ecological and phylogenetic patterns influencing Borrelia infection in birds in order to assess the contribution of common bird species to tick population dynamics and Borrelia circulation, and thus to the risk associated with Lyme disease for humans in a given ecosystem. The PhD focuses on the Landscape-Bird-Tick-Borrelia system in France and is structured around three components : (1) Role of breeding birds in local tick population dynamics, (2) Role of breeding birds in the local circulation of Borrelia, and (3) Relative contribution of different bird communities to the acarological risk. Improving understanding of the biology and epidemiology of ticks carried by birds and the Borrelia species they host during the breeding season will thus improve the design of effective strategies for preventing Lyme disease in France.

Ixodes ricinus, Ixodes frontalis, Ixodes arboricola

Borrelia burgdorferi sl (B. garinii, B. afzelii, B. burgdorferi ss, B. turdi, B. valaisiana

Anaplasma phagocytophilum

• Bonnet S., Choumet V., Masséglia S., Cote M., Ferquel E., Lilin T., Marsot M., Chapuis J.-L., Vourc’h G., Infection of Siberian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus barberi) with Borrelia sp. reveals a low reservoir competence under experimental conditions, Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, 2015,  6(3): 393-400.
• Jacquot M., Bisseux M., Abrial D., Marsot M., Ferquel E., Chapuis J.-L., Vourc’h G., Bailly X., High-Throughput Sequence Typing Reveals Genetic Differentiation and Host Specialization among Populations of the Borrelia burgdorferi Species Complex that Infect Rodents, Plos One, 2014, 9(2):e88581.
• Marsot M., Chapuis J.-L., Gasqui P., Dozières A., Masséglia S., Pisanu B., Ferquel E., Vourc’h G., Introduced Siberian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus barberi) contribute more to Lyme disease risk than native reservoir rodent, Plos One, 2013, 8(1) : e55377.
• Marsot M., Henry P.-Y., Vourc’h G., Gasqui P., Ferquel E., Laignel J., Grysan M., Chapuis J.-L., Which forest bird species are the main hosts of the tick, Ixodes ricinus, the vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, during the breeding season? International Journal of Parasitology, 2012, 42: 781-788.
• Buffet J.-P., Marsot M., Vaumaurin E., Gasqui P., Masséglia S., Marcheteau E., Huet D., Chapuis J.-L., Pisanu B., Ferquel E., Halos L., Vourc’h G., Vayssier-Taussat M., Co-infection of Borrelia afzelii and Bartonella spp. in bank voles from a suburban forest, Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, 2012, 35 (6) : 583-589.
• Marsot M., Sigaud M., Cornet M., Ferquel E., Chapuis J.-L., Vourc’h G., Introduced Siberian chipmunks (Tamias sibiricus barberi) harbour more diverse Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies than native bank voles, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 2011, 77: 5716-5721.
• Pisanu B., Marsot M., Marmet J., Reale D., Chapuis J.-L., Vourc’h G., Introduced Siberian chipmunks are more infested by Ixodid ticks than are native bank voles, International Journal of Parasitology, 2010, 40 : 1277-1283.

• Oiseau
• Lyme
• Tiques ornithophiles