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

Kisinza, W. N., McCall, Philip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0007-3985, Mitani, H., Talbert, A. and Fukunaga, M. (2003) 'A newly identified tick-borne Borrelia species and relapsing fever in Tanzania'. Lancet, Vol 362, Issue 9392, pp. 1283-1284.

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Abstract

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.

Item Type: Article
Subjects: QX Parasitology > Protozoa > QX 135 Plasmodia
QX Parasitology > Arthropods > QX 479 Ticks
QX Parasitology > Insects. Other Parasites > QX 600 Insect control. Tick control
WC Communicable Diseases > Rickettsiaceae Infections. Chlamydiaceae Infections > WC 600 Rickettsiaceae infections. Chlamydiaceae infections. Tick-borne diseases
Faculty: Department: Groups (2002 - 2012) > Vector Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(03)14609-0
Depositing User: Sarah Lewis-Newton
Date Deposited: 28 Aug 2012 15:02
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2018 13:04
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/2579

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