Deployment of a reservoir-targeted vaccine against Borreliella burgdorferi reduces the prevalence of Babesia microti coinfection in Ixodes scapularis ticks.

This article focuses on the impact of a reservoir-targeted outer surface protein A (OspA) vaccine on reducing coinfection of Ixodes scapularis ticks and Peromyscus leucopus mice with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, the agent of babesiosis. Conducted in the northeastern and upper midwestern United States, the study found that deployment of the OspA vaccine significantly decreased the prevalence of ticks coinfected with both pathogens and reduced the prevalence of B. microti infection in the primary reservoir host, P. leucopus mice, without affecting pathogen burden in infected individuals. The findings suggest that interrupting the enzootic cycle of B. burgdorferi through vaccination may also hinder the maintenance and transmission of B. microti, potentially lowering the incidence of babesiosis in endemic areas.