Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 362, Issue 9392, 18 October 2003, Pages 1283-1284
The Lancet

Research Letters
A newly identified tick-borne Borrelia species and relapsing fever in Tanzania

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14609-0Get rights and content

Summary

Tick-borne relapsing fever caused by the spirochaete Borrelia duttonii is a common cause of serious illness in central Tanzania. Screening of Ornithodoros sp ticks from infested houses for the presence of B duttonii had detected a previously unidentified species of Borrelia. We investigated whether this species infected the human population in a central Tanzanian village, by use of blood slide examination and PCR. PCR was twice as sensitive in detection of infections, showing Borrelia sp in six (11%) of 54 children with fever, and in 13 (4%) of 307 otherwise healthy children. Genotyping Borrelia from 17 infections identified Borrelia duttonii and an unnamed species. Our findings show that the newly discovered species is a causal agent of tick-borne relapsing fever.

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