Coralie Herrmann

Université de Neuchâtel | UniNE · Laboratoires de la parasitologie

Background: The tick Ixodes ricinus is an important vector of tick-borne diseases including Lyme borreliosis. In continental Europe, the nymphal stage of I. ricinus often has a bimodal phenology with a large spring peak and a smaller fall peak. There is consensus about the origin of the spring nymphal peak, but there are two alternative hypotheses...

Importance: Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere and is caused by spirochete bacteria that belong to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex. These tick-boren pathogens are transmitted among vertebrate hosts by hard ticks of the genus Ixodes Each Borrelia species can be further subdivided...

An increasing number of studies suggest that vector-borne parasites are able to alter phenotypic traits in their arthropod vectors so that microorganism transmission is enhanced. This review documents this phenomenon, which occurs between Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis, and their tick vectors belonging to th...

Mixed infections have important consequences for the ecology and evolution of host-parasite interactions. In vector-borne diseases, interactions between pathogens occur in both the vertebrate host and the arthropod vector. Spirochete bacteria belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies complex are transmitted by Ixodes ticks and ca...

In this study, we tested the survival of Ixodes ricinus under cold conditions in the laboratory. We investigated how the frequency of temperature variations (from -5°C or -10°C to 13°C), and infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) influenced survival of questing nymphs collected in spring and autumn 2011. In experiment 1, survival of...

Ticks use their energy reserves to maintain their water balance, search for hosts and transmit tick-borne pathogens. However, the influence of tick-borne pathogens on the energy reserves of the tick vector has not been well studied. The relationship between Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) infection status and fat content in questing Ixodes r...

Résumé La tique Ixodes ricinus qui transmet les bactéries du genre Borrelia responsables de la Borréliose de Lyme est très sensible au pouvoir desséchant de l'air. Une étude a montré que les tiques infectées survivaient mieux aux conditions atmosphériques desséchantes que les non in-fectées. Si dans le futur les précipitations estivales dimi-nuent...

Ixodes ricinus horizontal movement within a humidity gradient and the influence of infection by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) on tick walking were investigated. Nymphs were placed within an arena containing a humidity gradient ranging from 45 to 95% relative humidity (RH). After 1 h of acclimation at 70% RH ticks were released so that they...

ABSTRACT To determine whether Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) influences tick survival under thermohygrometric stress, Ixodesricinus (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae) questing ticks were tested under various relative humidities (13, 32, 51.5, 61, and 89% RH) at two different temperatures (12.5 and 25 degrees C) and investigated for Borrelia infection....