Borreliosis is an infectious disease caused by spirochetes of the genus Borrelia. Lyme borreliosis, also known as Lyme disease, is a non-contagious infectious disease caused by spirochetes belonging to the complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and more often transmitted by the bite of infected ticks of the genus Ixodes.The disease is characterized by a varied clinical profile, which can trigg...

Fact checking of the recent report of Johnson et al. of the CDC (1) discloses errors of fact and misrepresentations in their critique of the work of Sapi et al. (2). The CDC authors have produced three 603-base nucleotide haplotypes (partial sequences for PyrG open reading frame gene equivalents) and deposited these in GenBank under the accession numbers KF170280.1 (allegedly derived from Borre...

In Africa, relapsing fevers caused by ectoparasite-borne Borrelia species are transmitted by ticks, with the exception of Borrelia recurrentis, which is a louse-borne spirochete. These tropical diseases are responsible for mild to deadly spirochetemia. Cultured Borrelia crocidurae, Borrelia duttonii, and Borrelia hispanica circulate alongside at least six species that have not yet been cultured...

T relapsing fever (TBRF) is caused by Borrelia species and is transmitted to humans by Ornithodoros soft ticks. Worldwide, a dozen Borrelia species are known to cause this disease (1). In Israel, TBRF is considered to be caused by Borrelia persica and transmitted by the cave tick Ornithodoros tholozani (1). This tick and TBRF are distributed through Central Asia (2) and the Middle East (1). Oth...

BACKGROUND Limited data are available regarding the relationship of Borrelia burden in skin of patients with erythema migrans (EM) and the disease course and post-treatment outcome. METHODS We studied 121 adult patients with EM in whom skin biopsy specimens were cultured and analyzed by quantitative PCR for the presence of Borreliae. Evaluation of clinical and microbiological findings were co...

Unexpectedly we have found large numbers of chronically ill Borrelia burgdorferi PCR- and seropositive patients in Houston, Texas, a zoonotically 'non-endemic' area. In order to understand this finding prior to sufficient data availability, we chose to examine critically currently accepted but troublesome 'Lyme disease' concepts. Our method was to analyze each foundation 'Lyme disease' premise ...

Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF), is caused by several species of Borrelia spirochetes, which are transmitted to humans through the bites of Ornithodoros spp. soft ticks. Wild rodents and insectivores are common reservoir hosts. TBRF is responsible for recurring fever associated with spirochetemia. The epidemiology of TBRF has not been well documented in South America where three endemic ticks...

Lyme disease cases caused by Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. bacteria is increasing steadily in Europe, in part due to the expansion of the vector, Ixodes ricinus. Wild reservoir hosts are typically recurrently infested. Understanding the impact of these cumulative parasite exposures on the host's health is, therefore, central to predict the distribution of tick populations and their pathogens. Here,...

The diagnosis of neuroborreliosis is not always straightforward. Intrathecal immunoglobulin (Ig) synthesis against Borrelia antigen may not be detected, at least early in the disease course. Also other neurological and infectious diagnoses have to be considered. We have studied patients with clinical possible neuroborreliosis without intrathecal Ig synthesis against Borrelia antigen in the cere...

BACKGROUND Lyme disease is the most frequent tick-borne infectious disease in Europe. The discovery of the causative pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi in 1982 opened the way for the firm diagnosis of diseases in several clinical disciplines and for causal antibiotic therapy. At the same time, speculation regarding links between Borrelia infection and a variety of nonspecific symptoms and disorders ...