Molecular characterization of tickborne relapsing fever Borrelia, Israel

Blood samples from 18 tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF) patients and Ornithodoros tholozani specimens were tested with a Borrelia flaB-PCR. Results were positive for all patients and 2%-40% of ticks. A 7-amino acid gap characterized all 9 sequenced flagellin gene amplicons. By phylogenetic analysis, Israel TBRF Borrelia sequences clustered separately from American and African groups.