PCR assays to detect DNA of A. phagocytophilum, Bartonella spp., B. burgdorferi s.l., C. burnetii, Rickettsia spp.
Sterile distilled water instead of DNA was included as negative control to ensure the absence of contamination in each reaction mixture. Genomic DNA, obtained from immunofluorescent slides for each pathogen, was used as positive control.