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

• Published in: The Lancet (British edition) Vol. 362; no. 9392; pp. 1283 - 1284
• Main Authors: Kisinza, William N, McCall, PJ, Mitani, Harumi, Talbert, Alison, Fukunaga, Masahito
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Elsevier Ltd 18.10.2003; Lancet; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Arachnids; Bacteria; Bacterial diseases; Biological and medical sciences; Borrelia; Borrelia - classification; Borrelia - isolation & purification; Borrelia burgdorferi Group - classification; Borrelia burgdorferi Group - isolation & purification; Borrelia infections; Children; Fever; Field study; Genotyping; Hospitals; Human bacterial diseases; Human populations; Humans; Illnesses; Infections; Infectious diseases; Malaria; Medical sciences; Microscopy; Parasites; Phylogenetics; Plasmodium; Population; Relapsing fever; Relapsing Fever - epidemiology; Relapsing Fever - microbiology; Species; Spirochetes; Tanzania - epidemiology; Tick-borne diseases; Ticks; Towns; Tropical bacterial diseases; Tropical medicine; Africa; Tanzania; United Kingdom > UK; United States > US; Japan; East Africa; Human; Spirochaetaceae; Spirochaetales; Borrelia infection; Tick borne fever; Borrelia duttonii; Endemy; Epidemiology; Infection; Spirochaetosis; Bacteriosis; Bacteria; Child; Public health
• ISSN: 0140-6736; 1474-547X
• DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)14609-0

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.