Open AccessBorrelia lonestariInfection after a Bite by anAmblyomma americanumTick
Author(s) -
Angela M. James,
Dionysios Liveris,
Gary P. Wormser,
Ira Schwartz,
Marisa A. Montecalvo,
Barbara J. Johnson
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
the journal of infectious diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.69
H-Index - 252
eISSN - 1537-6613
pISSN - 0022-1899
DOI - 10.1086/320721
Subject(s) - amblyomma americanum , lyme disease , erythema chronicum migrans , tick , borrelia burgdorferi , borrelia , erythema migrans , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , flagellin , virology , tick borne disease , erythema , dermatology , ixodidae , antibody , immunology , medicine , gene , genetics , lyme borreliosis
Erythematous rashes that are suggestive of early Lyme disease have been associated with the bite of Amblyomma americanum ticks, particularly in the southern United States. However, Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, has not been cultured from skin biopsy specimens from these patients, and diagnostic serum antibodies usually have not been found. Borrelia lonestari sp nov, an uncultured spirochete, has been detected in A. americanum ticks by DNA amplification techniques, but its role in human illness is unknown. We observed erythema migrans in a patient with an attached A. americanum tick. DNA amplification of the flagellin gene flaB produced B. lonestari sequences from the skin of the patient that were identical to those found in the attached tick. B. lonestari is a probable cause of erythema migrans in humans.
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