Spirochetal Infections and Other Tick-Borne Febrile Illnesses in Canadaa

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Spirochetal Infections and Other Tick-Borne Febrile Illnesses in Canadaa Appendix 1 (as supplied by the authors): Spirochetal infections and other tick-borne febrile illnesses in Canadaa *Tick Borne Relapsing *Louse Borne Leptospirosis4,5 Lyme disease6,7 Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever1,2 Relapsing Fever3 Fever8,9 Causative agent Borrelia hermsii Borrelia recurrentis Leptospira spp. (eg. L. Borrelia burgdorferi Rickettsia rickettsii interrogans) Arthropod vector Ornithodoros spp. ticks Pediculus humanus None Ixodes ticks (scapularis on Dermacentor andersoni (Argasid ticks, “soft (human body louse) East coast, pacificus on (Rocky Mountain Wood ticks”) West coast) Tick) in Canada Animal reservoir Small mammals: mice, None Rodents, small mammals. East coast: White-footed None rats, squirrels, chipmunks Can also infect livestock, mice, chipmunks, white- dogs and cats. tailed deer. West coast: deer mice, wood rats Appendix to: Hussein H, Showler A, Tan DHS. Canadian “cabin fever”: tick-borne relapsing fever in pregnancy. CMAJ 2013; DOI:10.1503/cmaj.122053. Copyright © 2014 The Author(s) or their employer(s). To receive this resource in an accessible format, please contact us at [email protected] Geographic Southern British Columbia No North American Limited data in Canada. Southern parts of Quebec, Southeastern Alberta, distribution in outbreaks since 19th New Brunswick, Nova Southwestern Canada century. Few cases associated with Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba Saskatchewan, Southern direct occupational exposure and British Columbia British Columbia and Exposure to rustic housing to urine of infected animals: with rodent infestations veterinarians, butchers, risk factors for Occurs in epidemics in hunters, any animal acquisition populations with poor handlers. Exposure to wooded areas, Exposure to wooded areas, hygiene. periurban areas. periurban areas. Cases in returning travellers Occasional transmission in Occasional transmission in from tropical and subtropical urban centers. urban centers. areas with indirect exposure to wet soil or water, often following floods or fresh- water sports. Clinical clues Recurrent paroxysmal Similar to TBRF but Fever, myalgias (calves, low Early infection: Fever, headache. fever associated with longer fever episodes. back), headache, nausea, myalgias, and Typically 1 relapse only. conjunctival suffusion Erythema migrans rash, Maculopapular rash headache with More likely to have malaise, fever, fatigue, beginning on wrists and asymptomatic periods hemorrhagic myalgias. ankles, spreading to palms between febrile episodes. complications. and soles and then to entire Weil’s disease – hepatorenal Can present with body. failure, hemorrhage, arthralgias, heart block, pneumonitis and neurologic symptoms including bell’s palsy. Diagnostic tests of Peripheral blood smear Peripheral blood smear Leptospira PCR (blood, Epidemiologic history and Skin biopsy examination choice during febrile episode during febrile episode urine) clinical presentation are with direct (spirochetes observed on (numerous spirochetes mainstay of diagnosis. immunofluorescence light microscopy using observed on light Serology is test of choice but Serology (ELISA followed Wright-Giemsa stain or microscopy using not useful in early disease by Western blot) helpful in PCR for R. ricketsii on dark field microscopy). Wright-Giemsa stain or certain circumstances. blood or skin biopsy. dark field microscopy). Borrelia PCR Serologic testing not Borrelia PCR helpful in early disease Excluding Treponema pallidum, the causative agent of syphilis a * Organisms can be observed under light microscopy using a Wright-Giemsa stain Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Tick-borne relapsing fever: information for clinicians [homepage on the internet]. 1 C2012 [updated 2012 Mar 13; cited 2012 Dec 7]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/relapsing-fever/clinicians/ Dworkin MS, Schwan TG, Anderson DE Jr. Tick-borne relapsing fever in North America. Med Clin North Am 2002;86:417– 2 33, viii–ix Raoult D, Roux V. The Body Louse as a Vector of Reemerging Human Diseases. Clin Infect Dis 1999;29:888-911 3 Brown K, Prescott J. Leptospirosis in the Family Dog: a public health perspective. CMAJ 2008:178(4):399-401 4 Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Disease. 7 ed. 5 th Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone; 2009. Ogden NH, Lindsay LR, Morshed M, et al. The emergence of Lyme disease in Canada. CMAJ 2009;180(12):1221-1224 6 Wormser GP, Raymond RJ, Shapiro ED, et al. The Clinical Assessment, Treatment and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human 7 Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis 2006;43:1089-134 8 Alberta Health. Public Health Notifiable Disease Management Guidelines – Rickettsial Infections [document on the internet]. Jan 2013 [cited 2013 Apr 13]. Available from: http://www.health.alberta.ca/documents/Guidelines-Rickettsial-Infections- 2013.pdf 9 Duncan JH. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Canada. CMAJ 1937;37(6):575-577 .
Recommended publications
  • Are You Suprised ?
    B DAMB 721 Microbiology Final Exam B 100 points December 11, 2006 Your name (Print Clearly): _____________________________________________ I. Matching: The questions below consist of headings followed by a list of phrases. For each phrase select the heading that best describes that phrase. The headings may be used once, more than once or not at all. Mark the answer in Part 2 of your answer sheet. 1. capsid 7. CD4 2. Chlamydia pneumoniae 8. Enterococcus faecalis 3. oncogenic 9. hyaluronidase 4. pyruvate 10. interferon 5. Koplik’s spot 11. hydrophilic viruses 6. congenital Treponema pallidum 12. Streptococcus pyogenes 1. “spreading factor” produced by members of the staphylococci, streptococci and clostridia 2. viral protein coat 3. central intermediate in bacterial fermentation 4. persistant endodontic infections 5. a cause of atypical pneumonia 6. nonspecific defense against viral infection 7. has a rudimentary life cycle 8. HIV receptor 9. Hutchinson’s Triad 10. measles 11. resistant to disinfection 12. β-hemolytic, bacitracin sensitive, cause of suppurative pharyngitis 2 Matching (Continued): The questions below consist of diseases followed by a list of etiologic agents. Match each disease with the etiologic agent. Continue using Part 2 of your answer sheet. 1. dysentery 6. Legionnaire’s 2. botulism 7. gas gangrene 3. cholera 8. tuberculosis 4. diphtheria 9. necrotizing fascitis 5. enteric fever 10. pneumoniae/meningitis 13. Clostridium botulinum 14. Vibrio cholera 15. Mycobacterium bovis 16. Shigella species 17. Streptococcus pneumoniae 18. Clostridium perfringens 19. Salmonella typhi 20. Streptococcus pyogenes 3 II. Multiple Choice: Choose the ONE BEST answer. Mark the correct answer on Part 1 of the answer sheet.
    [Show full text]
  • Pronunciation Guide to Microorganisms
    Pronunciation Guide to Microorganisms This pronunciation guide is provided to aid each student in acquiring a greater ease in discussing, describing, and using specific microorganisms. Please note that genus and species names are italicized. If they cannot be italicized, then they should be underlined (example: a lab notebook). Prokaryotic Species Correct Pronunciation Acetobacter aceti a-se-toh-BAK-ter a-SET-i Acetobacter pasteurianus a-se-toh-BAK-ter PAS-ter-iann-us Acintobacter calcoacetius a-sin-ee-toe-BAK-ter kal-koh-a-SEE-tee-kus Aerococcus viridans (air-o)-KOK-kus vi-ree-DANS Agrobacterium tumefaciens ag-roh-bak-TEAR-ium too-me-FAY-she-ens Alcaligenes denitrificans al-KAHL-li-jen-eez dee-ni-TREE-fee-cans Alcaligenes faecalis al-KAHL-li-jen-eez fee-KAL-is Anabaena an-na-BEE-na Azotobacter vinelandii a-zoe-toe-BAK-ter vin-lan-DEE-i Bacillus anthracis bah-SIL-lus AN-thray-sis Bacillus lactosporus bah-SIL-lus LAK-toe-spore-us Bacillus megaterium bah-SIL-lus Meg-a-TEER-ee-um Bacillus subtilis bah-SIL-lus SA-til-us Borrelia recurrentis bore-RELL-ee-a re-kur-EN-tis Branhamella catarrhalis bran-hem-EL-ah cat-arr-RAH-lis Citrobacter freundii sit-roe-BACK-ter FROND-ee-i Clostridium perfringens klos-TREH-dee-um per-FRINGE-enz Clostridium sporogenes klos-TREH-dee-um spore-AH-gen-ease Clostridium tetani klos-TREH-dee-um TET-ann-ee Corynebacterium diphtheriae koh-RYNE-nee-back-teer-ee-um dif-THEE-ry-ee Corynebacterium hofmanni koh-RYNE-nee-back-teer-ee-um hoff-MAN-eye Corynebacterium xerosis koh-RYNE-nee-back-teer-ee-um zer-OH-sis Enterobacter
    [Show full text]
  • Relapsing Fever in Young Refugees from East Africa Spinello Antinori1,2* , Valeria Colombo1 and Mario Corbellino1,2
    Antinori et al. Critical Care (2017) 21:205 DOI 10.1186/s13054-017-1777-z LETTER Open Access Relapsing fever in young refugees from East Africa Spinello Antinori1,2* , Valeria Colombo1 and Mario Corbellino1,2 See related letter by Cutuli et al. https://ccforum.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13054-017-1666-5 We read with interest the letter by Cutuli et al. [1] leptospirosis, all other findings can be observed in describing a case of severe co-infection by Leptospira patients with severe clinical presentation of both dis- spp. and Borrelia recurrentis in a young female refugee eases. However, in the recent wave of LBRF observed in from East Africa. We would like to comment on several Europe, intensivists were faced with severe cases of issues raised by their paper. LBRF presenting with shock solely as a consequence of First, the authors state “nits were present on her the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction precipitated by adminis- scalp…”. In our opinion, this sentence may mislead tration of antibiotics [4]. readers as meaning that “head lice” (Pediculus humanus A final point that deserves comment concerns the capitis) are the vectors of louse-borne relapsing fever microbiology diagnosis. Molecular biology by means of (LBRF). Indeed, body lice (Pediculus humanus humanus) real-time polymerase chain reaction in this case pro- are to date the only demonstrated vectors of the disease. vided the correct diagnosis of both infections. Although We are aware of only two reports providing proof that not clearly stated, the authors report that malaria was head lice can harbor B. recurrentis and consequently excluded among other possible differential diagnoses.
    [Show full text]
  • Lice, Rodents, and Many Hopes: a Rare Disease in a Young Refugee Salvatore L
    Cutuli et al. Critical Care (2017) 21:81 DOI 10.1186/s13054-017-1666-5 LETTER Open Access Lice, rodents, and many hopes: a rare disease in a young refugee Salvatore L. Cutuli1, Gennaro De Pascale1*, Teresa Spanu2, Antonio M. Dell’Anna1, Maria G. Bocci1, Federico Pallavicini3, Fabiola Mancini4, Alessandra Ciervo4 and Massimo Antonelli1 Keywords: Migrants, Borrelia recurrentis, Leptospira, Borreliosis, Leptospirosis Migrants from countries with scarce resources represent Leptospira species, Borrelia species, Leishmania species, an increasing worldwide phenomenon providing a daily and Malaria species related infections. challenge for governments and humanitarian organiza- On day 3, the blood and urine samples were positive on tions [1, 2]. real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [3, 4] for Lep- A teenage refugee from East Africa was admitted to tospira spp. (Fig. 1a) and Borrelia recurrentis (only in the our intensive care unit (ICU) with acute respiratory dis- blood sample; Fig. 1b). Antibiotic therapy with 100 mg tress syndrome (ARDS), hypotension, and jaundice. Nits doxycycline every 12 h and 2 g ceftriaxone every 12 h was were present on her scalp and she had no relevant past started, leading to a progressive improvement of the medical history. She arrived in Italy after travelling for patient’s clinical status. On day 21 she was moved to the 7 months under poor hygienic conditions. infectious disease ward, and 10 days later she ran away the ARDS was managed with protective mechanical venti- hospital and has never come back for clinic follow-up. lation (tidal volume 350 ml, plateau pressure 28 Borrelia recurrentis infection is a louse-borne disease cmH2O), high positive end-expiratory pressure (15 and Leptospirosis is a rat-borne zoonosis, both endemic in cmH2O), neuromuscular blocking agents, prone posi- areas characterized by a low hygiene condition.
    [Show full text]
  • Borrelia Species
    APPENDIX 2 Borrelia Species Likelihood of Secondary Transmission: • Secondary transmission of relapsing fever from blood Disease Agent: exposure or blood contact with broken skin or con- • Borrelia recurrentis—Tick-borne relapsing fever junctiva, contaminated needles • B. duttoni—Louse-borne relapsing fever At-Risk Populations: Disease Agent Characteristics: • Persons with exposure to the tick vector and people living in crowded conditions with degraded public • Not classified as either Gram-positive or Gram- health infrastructure negative, facultatively intracellular bacterium • Order: Spirochaetales; Family: Spirochaetaceae Vector and Reservoir Involved: • Size: 20-30 ¥ 0.2-0.3 mm • Nucleic acid: Approximately 1250-1570 kb of DNA • Argasid (soft) ticks: Tick-borne (endemic) relapsing fever. Rodents are the reservoir. Disease Name: • Human body louse: Louse-borne (epidemic) relaps- ing fever. No nonhuman reservoir • Relapsing fever Blood Phase: Priority Level: • Bacteria are present in high numbers in the blood • Scientific/Epidemiologic evidence regarding blood during febrile episodes and at lower levels between safety: Very low fevers. • Public perception and/or regulatory concern regard- • The duration of bacteremia is not well characterized, ing blood safety: Absent but recurrent fevers can persist for several weeks to • Public concern regarding disease agent: Very low months. Background: Survival/Persistence in Blood Products: • Relapsing fevers occur throughout the world, with the • No information for B. recurrentis; however, laboratory exception of a few areas in the Southwest Pacific. The studies indicate that B. burgdorferi survives in fresh distribution and occurrence of endemic tick-borne frozen plasma, RBCs, and platelets for the duration of relapsing fever (TBRF) are governed by the presence their storage period.
    [Show full text]
  • The Approved List of Biological Agents Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens Health and Safety Executive
    The Approved List of biological agents Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens Health and Safety Executive © Crown copyright 2021 First published 2000 Second edition 2004 Third edition 2013 Fourth edition 2021 You may reuse this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view the licence visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/ open-government-licence/, write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email [email protected]. Some images and illustrations may not be owned by the Crown so cannot be reproduced without permission of the copyright owner. Enquiries should be sent to [email protected]. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 refer to an ‘approved classification of a biological agent’, which means the classification of that agent approved by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). This list is approved by HSE for that purpose. This edition of the Approved List has effect from 12 July 2021. On that date the previous edition of the list approved by the Health and Safety Executive on the 1 July 2013 will cease to have effect. This list will be reviewed periodically, the next review is due in February 2022. The Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens (ACDP) prepares the Approved List included in this publication. ACDP advises HSE, and Ministers for the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and their counterparts under devolution in Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland, as required, on all aspects of hazards and risks to workers and others from exposure to pathogens.
    [Show full text]
  • VIBRAMYCIN® (Doxycycline)
    Vibramycin/LPD/PK-05 VIBRAMYCIN® (Doxycycline) 1. NAME OF THE MEDICINAL PRODUCT VIBRAMYCIN® 2. QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE COMPOSITION Doxycycline is a broad-spectrum antibiotic synthetically derived from oxytetracycline and is available as doxycycline calcium, doxycycline hydrochloride, doxycycline monohydrate and doxycycline hyclate (hydrochloride hemiethanolate hemihydrate). The chemical designation of this light-yellow crystalline powder is alpha-6-deoxy-5-oxytetracycline. Doxycycline has a high degree of lipoid solubility and a low affinity for calcium binding. It is highly stable in normal human serum. Doxycycline will not degrade into an epianhydro form. 3. PHARMACEUTICAL FORM VIBRAMYCIN® is available as: Capsules containing 100 mg of doxycycline as the hyclate salt. Film-coated tablets containing 100 mg of doxycycline as the hyclate salt. 4. CLINICAL PARTICULARS 4.1. THERAPEUTIC INDICATIONS Treatment VIBRAMYCIN® is indicated for treatment of the following infections: Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever and the typhus group; Q fever, rickettsialpox and tick fevers caused by Rickettsiae; Respiratory infections caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae; Psittacosis caused by Chlamydia psittaci; Lymphogranuloma venereum, caused by Chlamydia trachomatis; Uncomplicated urethral, endocervical or rectal infections in adults caused by Chlamydia trachomatis; Trachoma caused by Chlamydia trachomatis although the infectious agent is not always eliminated, as judged by immunofluorescence; According to CDS V 10 dated: December 11, 2017 and CDS
    [Show full text]
  • Are You Suprised ?
    DAMB 711 Microbiology Final Exam B 100 points December 16, 2009 Your name (Print Clearly): _____________________________________________ Exam # __________ Seat # ___________ CPA # ____________ I. Multiple Choice: Choose the ONE BEST answer. Mark the correct answer on Part 1 of the answer sheet. Use a #2 pencil. 1. Which of the following describes the infectious agent of a microorganism that causes atypical pneumoniae? A. fecal material from a patient harboring Salmonella typhi B. endospores of Clostridium botulinum C. Treponema pallidum in a chancre D. the reticulate body of Chlamydia trachomatis. E. the elementary body of Chlamydia pneumoniae 2. Many bacteria are intracellular parasites with specialized mechanisms for survival inside cells. One of the following is not a mechanism for survival in the cell. Which one? A. Shigella’s escape from the endosome. B. Mycobacterial prevention of phagosome and lysosome fusion. C. Salmonella’s transcription of an acid tolerance response gene. D. Aggregatibacter’s leukotoxin 3. Diabetic patients are predisposed to __________________ caused by___________________: A. athlete’s foot: Candida albicans B. typhus: Rickettsia typhi C. rhino-cerebral zygomycosis: Mucor species D. hypersensitivities: Aspergillus fumigatus E. lung infections: Coccidioides immitis 4. Chalmydia psittaci and Cryptococcus neoformans have the following in common: A. They are both molds. B. They are both yeasts. C. Their infectious agents are transmitted in avian feces. D. A, B and C are true E. B and C are true. 5. Members of the genus Mycoplasma are unique among bacteria because they: A. have a rudimentary life cycle. B. have a primary arthropod host that is both a vector and a reservoir.
    [Show full text]
  • Taxonomy of the Lyme Disease Spirochetes
    THE YALE JOURNAL OF BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE 57 (1984), 529-537 Taxonomy of the Lyme Disease Spirochetes RUSSELL C. JOHNSON, Ph.D., FRED W. HYDE, B.S., AND CATHERINE M. RUMPEL, B.S. Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota Received January 23, 1984 Morphology, physiology, and DNA nucleotide composition of Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia, Treponema, and Leptospira were compared. Morphologically, Lyme disease spirochetes resemble Borrelia. They lack cytoplasmic tubules present in Treponema, and have more than one periplasmic flagellum per cell end and lack the tight coiling which are characteristic of Leptospira. Lyme disease spirochetes are also similar to Borrelia in being microaerophilic, catalase-negative bacteria. They utilize carbohydrates such as glucose as their major carbon and energy sources and produce lactic acid. Long-chain fatty acids are not degraded but are incorporated unaltered into cellular lipids. The diamino amino acid present in the peptidoglycan is ornithine. The mole % guanine plus cytosine values for Lyme disease spirochete DNA were 27.3-30.5 percent. These values are similar to the 28.0-30.5 percent for the Borrelia but differed from the values of 35.3-53 percent for Treponema and Leptospira. DNA reannealing studies demonstrated that Lyme disease spirochetes represent a new species of Borrelia, exhibiting a 31-59 percent DNA homology with the three species of North American borreliae. In addition, these studies showed that the three Lyme disease spirochetes comprise a single species with DNA homologies ranging from 76-100 percent. The three North American borreliae also constitute a single species, displaying DNA homologies of 75-95 per- cent.
    [Show full text]
  • Pathogenesis of Relapsing Fever
    Curr. Issues Mol. Biol. 42: 519-550. caister.com/cimb Pathogenesis of Relapsing Fever Job Lopez1, Joppe W. Hovius2 and Sven Bergström3 1Department of Pediatrics, Section of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital, Houston TX, USA 2Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Amsterdam Medical centers, location Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 3Department of Molecular Biology, Umeå Center for Microbial Research, Molecular Infection Medicine Sweden, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden *Corresponding author: [email protected] DOI: https://doi.org/10.21775/cimb.042.519 Abstract outbreaks of RF. One of the best recorded Relapsing fever (RF) is caused by several species of descriptions of RF came from the physician John Borrelia; all, except two species, are transmitted to Rutty, who kept a detailed diary during his time in humans by soft (argasid) ticks. The species B. Dublin, where he described the weather and illnesses recurrentis is transmitted from one human to another in the area during the mid-1700’s (Rutty, 1770). by the body louse, while B. miyamotoi is vectored by Interestingly, the fatality rate was very low and most hard-bodied ixodid tick species. RF Borrelia have of the affected people did recover after two or three several pathogenic features that facilitate invasion relapses. and dissemination in the infected host. In this article we discuss the dynamics of vector acquisition and RF symptoms also were described in detail by field subsequent transmission of RF Borrelia to their medics during the 1788 Swedish-Russian war. The vertebrate hosts. We also review taxonomic Swedish navy conquered the Russian 74-cannon challenges for RF Borrelia as new species have been battleship Vladimir and its 783 men crew at a battle in isolated throughout the globe.
    [Show full text]
  • Louse-Borne Relapsing Fever (Borrelia Recurrentis Infection) Cambridge.Org/Hyg
    Epidemiology and Infection Louse-borne relapsing fever (Borrelia recurrentis infection) cambridge.org/hyg David A. Warrell Review Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Cite this article: Warrell DA (2019). Louse- Abstract borne relapsing fever (Borrelia recurrentis infection). Epidemiology and Infection 147, Louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) is an epidemic disease with a fascinating history from e106, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1017/ Hippocrates’ times, through the 6th century ‘Yellow Plague’, to epidemics in Ireland, S0950268819000116 Scotland and England in the 19th century and two large Afro-Middle Eastern pandemics in the 20th century. An endemic focus persists in Ethiopia and adjacent territories in the Received: 20 August 2018 Horn of Africa. Since 2015, awareness of LBRF in Europe, as a re-emerging disease, has Revised: 5 November 2018 Accepted: 9 January 2019 been increased dramatically by the discovery of this infection in dozens of refugees arriving from Africa. Author for correspondence: The causative spirochaete, Borrelia recurrentis, has a genome so similar to B. duttonii and David A. Warrell, E-mail: david.warrell@ndm. B. crocidurae (causes of East and West African tick-borne relapsing fever), that they are now ox.ac.uk regarded as merely ecotypes of a single genomospecies. Transmission is confined to the human body louse Pediculus humanus corporis, and, perhaps, the head louse P. humanus capitis, although the latter has not been proved. Infection is by inoculation of louse coelomic fluid or faeces by scratching. Nosocomial infections are possible from contamination by infected blood. Between blood meals, body lice live in clothing until the host’s body tempera- ture rises or falls, when they seek a new abode.
    [Show full text]
  • Borrelia Recurrentis Characterization and Comparison with Relapsing-Fever, Lyrne-Associated, and Other Borrelia Spp
    INTERNATIONALJOURNAL OF SYSTEMATICBACTERIOLOGY, Oct. 1997, p. 958-968 Vol. 47, No. 4 0020-7713/97/$04.00+ 0 Copyright 0 1997, International Union of Microbiological Societies Borrelia recurrentis Characterization and Comparison with Relapsing-Fever, Lyrne-Associated, and Other Borrelia spp. S. J. CUTLER,'" J. MOSS,2 M. FUKUNAGA,3 D. J. M. WRIGHT,' D. FEKADE,4 AND D. WARRELLs Department of Medical Microbiology' and Department of Histopathology, Charing Cross Hospital, London, W6 8W, and Centre for Tropical Medicine, University of Oxford, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, United Kingdom; Department of Molecular Microbiology, Fukuyama University, Hiroshima, Japan3; and Department of Internal Medicine, Black Lion Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia4 Borrelia recurrentis, the cause of louse-borne relapsing fever, has until recently been considered nonculti- vable, which has prevented characterization of this spirochete. We successfully cultivated 18 strains from patients with louse-borne relapsing fever and present the initial characterization of these isolates. Electron microscopy revealed spirochetal cells with pointed ends, an average wavelength of 1.8 pm, an amplitude of 0.8 pm, and 8 to 10 periplasmic flagella. The G+C ratio was 28.4 mol%.Whole DNA-DNA hybridizations showed similarity between the isolates of B. recurrentis but not with Borrelia hermsii, Borrelia parkeri, Borrelia turicatae, or the Lyme-associated borreliae. Sequencing studies of both the flagellin and 16s RNA genes revealed that the greatest similarity was between B. recurrentis and Borrelia duttonii. Analysis of the sodium dodecyl sulfate- polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis profiles of strains revealed four groups based on the position of a major protein band (one of the groups showed some heterogeneity and was subdivided into four subgroups).
    [Show full text]