Borrelia prevalence in various CA ticks

Excerpt:

This finding and an antecedent report of a B. burgdorferi-like 
spirochete from the same tick species demonstrate that O. coriaceus 
sometimes acquires and transstadially passes Lyme disease group 
spirochetes. I. pacificus nymphs inhabiting a woodland nidus of B. 
burgdorferi and A. phagocytophilum had a 5-fold higher prevalence of 
borreliae than adult ticks from the same generational cohort. In 
contrast to the results of preceding studies carried out at the same 
site, none of the nymphal or adult ticks was PCR-positive for A. 
phagocytophilum. This suggests that the distribution of this rickettsia 
is highly focal or variable from year-to-year within this particular 
woodland.