Assessment of Borrelia miyamotoi in febrile patients and ticks in Alsace, an endemic area for Lyme borreliosis in France.

Background: Borrelia miyamotoi is a relapsing fever Borrelia species transmitted by ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. Human disease caused by B. miyamotoi was first described in Russia and later in the USA and Japan.

Multilocus sequence typing of clinical Borreliella afzelii strains: population structure and differential ability to disseminate in humans.

Background: Lyme borreliosis in humans results in a range of clinical manifestations, thought to be partly due to differences in the pathogenicity of the infecting strain. This study compared European human clinical strains of Borreliella afzelii (previously named Borrelia afzelii) using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to determine their spatial distribution across Europe and to establish whether there are associations between B. afzelii genotypes and specific clinical manifestations of Lyme borreliosis.

No evidence of Borrelia mayonii in an endemic area for Lyme borreliosis in France.

Background: Borrelia mayonii is currently the latest species belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) complex to be discovered. Interestingly it is involved in human pathology causing a high fever. We looked for its presence in post- tick bite febrile patients as well as in Ixodes ricinus ticks in an endemic area of France.

Homogeneous Inflammatory Gene Profiles Induced in Human Dermal Fibroblasts in Response to the Three Main Species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.

In Lyme borreliosis, the skin is the key site for bacterial inoculation by the infected tick and for cutaneous manifestations. We previously showed that different strains of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto isolated from tick and from different clinical stages of the Lyme borreliosis (erythema migrans, and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans) elicited a very similar transcriptional response in normal human dermal fibroblasts. In this study, using whole transcriptome microarray chips, we aimed to compare the transcriptional response of normal human dermal fibroblasts stimulated by 3 Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato strains belonging to 3 main pathogenic species (B.

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis in eastern France: clinical presentation and laboratory diagnosis.

Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) is a tick-borne infection characterised by an acute, nonspecific febrile illness. To date, few clinical cases have been supported by both a positive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and subsequent seroconversion against Anaplasma phagocytophilum antigen all over Europe. We report here 3 consecutive cases of HGA that occurred during the summer of 2009 which fulfilled the epidemiologic, clinical, and biological criteria for HGA.

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato diversity and its influence on pathogenicity in humans.

Among the Spirochaetes, the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex is responsible for Lyme borreliosis. This complex comprises more than 13 Borrelia species. Four of them are clearly pathogenic for humans: B.

Enhanced culture of Borrelia garinii and Borrelia afzelii strains on a solid BSK-based medium in anaerobic conditions.

The growth of 29 human strains from the three main pathogenic species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato on a solid BSK-based medium was compared in two culture atmospheres: 3% CO(2) air and anaerobiosis. All strains grew under anaerobic conditions, whereas only 13 strains were able to grow in aerobiosis with 3% CO(2) (P<0.001).