Excerpt:

Lyme disease is a multi-organ infection disease caused by
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. Lyme disease was first
documented in north-east China in 1986. Since then more than 20
provinces in China were confirmed the existence of nature foci of
Lyme disease. In the present study, a molecular epidemiological
survey was conducted to investigate the presence of Borrelia
burgdorferi sensu lato in rodents from Gansu Province for the
first time. Result: A total of 140 rodents of 7 species were
examined for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. by nested-PCR and
culture isolation. The overall infection rate was 22.86%. Two
rodent species most frequently trapped were responsible for all
positive. 3 strains were isolated from Apodemus agrarius, which
belonged to B.