Of Mice and Lyme – Spread of Lyme

The spread of Lyme is enabled by host reservoirs. What is a “host reservoir”? A host reservoir is an organism that harbors a pathogen but does not experience negative side effects from the disease.

The blacklegged deer tick is not hatched with Lyme disease, it acquires Lyme disease after feeding on an infected host. Blacklegged ticks feed at least once at each stage of their life cycle: larvae, nymph, and adult.

The super spreader host in the US: mice. White footed mice, field mice, are natural host reservoirs for the Borrelia Burgdorferi bacterium. If a deer tick feeds on a mouse infected with Borrelia Burgdorferi, the mouse can transmit the pathogen to the tick. There are birds and other mammals that are reservoirs for the Lyme disease Borrelia Burgdorferi bacterium also - for example, chipmunks and squirrels.