2010 Dec Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
Abstract In North America, Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a tick-borne disease caused by infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.
We studied the genetic diversity of LB spirochetes
... in north-coastal Californian residents.
Spirochete DNA was detected in 23.7% (27/114) of study subjects using a PCR protocol optimized for increased sensitivity in human sera.
Californians were most commonly infected with B. burgdorferi ospC genotype A, a globally widespread spirochete associated with high virulence in LB patients.
Sequence analysis of rrf-rrl and p66 loci in 11% (3/27) of PCR-positive study subjects revealed evidence of infection with an organism closely related to B. bissettii. ================= This spirochete, heretofore associated with LB only in Europe, ================= is widely distributed among ticks and wildlife in North America.
Further molecular testing of sera from residents in LB-endemic areas is warranted to enhance our understanding of the geographic distribution and frequency of occurrence of B. bissettii-like infections.