Whole genome sequencing of human Borrelia burgdorferi isolates reveals linked blocks of accessory genome elements located on plasmids and associated with human dissemination

Abstract Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in North America and Europe. The clinical manifestations of Lyme disease vary based on the genospecies of the infecting Borrelia burgdorferi spirochete, but the microbial genetic elements underlying these associations are not known. Here, we report the whole genome sequence (WGS) and analysis of 299 B. burgdorferi (Bb) isolates derived from…

USA CDC : Vaccines for Lyme Disease – Past, Present, and Future

[CanLyme note: The argument to market a vaccine anytime soon is weak.  Until many eyes have had a chance to review the data, primarily including the patient’s experts, no vaccine should be introduced… and if it is, it will fail because of broken trust.] Published on Jul 30, 2015 A Lyme disease vaccine is no…

Prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes Ticks in Europe and the United States

Chris D. Crowder, Heather E. Carolan, Megan A. Rounds, Vaclav Honig, Benedikt Mothes, Heike Haag, Oliver Nolte, Ben J. Luft, Libor Grubhoffer, David J. Ecker, Steven E. Schutzer, and Mark W. Eshoo AbstractBorrelia miyamotoi, a relapsing fever-related spirochete transmitted by Ixodes ticks, has been recently shown to be a human pathogen. To characterize the prevalence…