We report an imported case of louse-borne relapsing fever in a young adult Eritrean refugee who presented with fever shortly after arriving in Switzerland. Analysis of blood smears revealed spirochetes identified as Borrelia recurrentis by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We believe that louse-borne relapsing fever may be seen more frequently in Europe as a consequence of a recent increase in refugees...

During June 9-September 30, 2015, five cases of louseborne relapsing fever were identified in Turin, Italy. All 5 cases were in young refugees from Somalia, 2 of whom had lived in Italy since 2011. Our report seems to confirm the possibility of local transmission of louse-borne relapsing fever.

1. Spirochetes of relapsing fever have been separated from the blood of heavily infected mice and rats by hemolysing with saponin, followed by repeated washing of the spirochetal suspension with physiological saline. 2. Spirochetes obtained in this manner appear to have broad antigenic specificity. Antigens of this type fixed complement in the presence of serum obtained from man or animals infe...

form of "spirillar or spirochetal fever and the well-known European relapsing fever which is due to the S. Obervneirei. Koch had drawn attention to the small number ot parasites in the blood of tick fever cases as contrasted witli the numbers present in cases of relapsing fever Moreover, the attacks and the relapses are of longer duration in the Euiopean fever. The four cases here quoted were a...

Relapsing fever, caused by the spirochete Borrelia hermsii and transmitted by the soft tick Ornithodoros hermsi, is endemic in many rural mountainous areas of California. Between 1996 and 1998, 12 cases of relapsing fever associated with two exposure sites in northern California were investigated. Follow-up at exposure sites included collection of soft ticks and serum specimens from sylvatic ro...

Five persons contracted tick-borne relapsing fever after staying in a cabin in western Montana. Borrelia hermsii was isolated from the blood of two patients, and Ornithodoros hermsi ticks were collected from the cabin, the first demonstration of this bacterium and tick in Montana. Relapsing fever should be considered when patients who reside or have vacationed in western Montana exhibit a recur...