Journal
JOURNAL OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Volume 221, Issue 5, Pages 804-811Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiz500
Keywords
argasid; Borrelia; tick-borne relapsing fever; Ukraine
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Funding
- US Defense Threat Reduction Agency Project (CBEP Agreement IAA) [U.S.C. 3318(b)-15217]
- National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine
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Background. Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is a neglected zoonotic bacterial disease known to occur on 5 continents. We report a laboratory-acquired case of TBRF caused by Borrelia caucasica, which is endemic in Ukraine and transmitted by Ornithodoros verrucosus ticks. Methods. We isolated spirochetes and characterized them by partially sequencing the 16s ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rrs), flagellin (flaB), and deoxyribonucleic acid gyrase (gyrB) genes and conducting a phylogenetic analysis. Results. These analyses revealed a close relationship of Ukrainian spirochetes with the Asian TBRF species, Borrelia persica. The taxonomic and nomenclature problems related to insufficient knowledge on the spirochetes and their vectors in the region are discussed. Conclusions. Although these findings enhance our understanding of species identities for TBRF Borrelia in Eurasia, further work is required to address the neglected status of TBRF in this part of the world. Public health practitioners should consider TBRF and include the disease into differential diagnosis of febrile illnesses with unknown etiology.
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