Borrelia duttonii Ly

Relapsing fever (RF) is a disease caused by several spirochetes of the genus Borrelia. Relapsing fever borrelioses are characterized by recurrent febrile episodes and spirochetemia. There are 2 forms; louse-borne relapsing fever (also known as urban or epidemic RF) is caused by Borrelia recurrentis, and is transmitted by the body louse Pediculus humanus humanus. It currently known in Ethiopia. Endemic tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is a zoonotic disease transmitted worldwide by softbody ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. It is caused by at least 15 distinct Borrelia species throughout the world.Borrelia duttonii is endemic in Western Africa, where it causes TBRF, causing up to 6 relapses, no mortality but often adverse perinatal outcomes. Strain Ly was isolated from a 2-year-old girl with TBRF in Tanzania, and has 16 plasmids. Interestingly B.recurrentis strain A1 (BORRA), a causative agent of louse-borne relapsing fever RF, and sequenced by the same group at the same time, has been deduced to be a reduced form of B.duttonii undergoing genome decay. (HAMAP: BORDL)