Identifying relapsing fever Borrelia, Senegal

Emerg Infect Dis. 2005 Mar;11(3):474-5. doi: 10.3201/eid1103.040506.

Abstract

We describe a nested polymerase chain reaction for the identification of Borrelia species from serum of patients with unidentified fevers. This technique, based on single nucleotide polymorphisms of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene, was used to test blood samples from 7,750 patients, 33 of whom were diagnosed with spirochete infections. Borrelia crocidurae was the only species identified.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Borrelia / classification
  • Borrelia / isolation & purification*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods*
  • Relapsing Fever / diagnosis
  • Relapsing Fever / epidemiology
  • Relapsing Fever / microbiology*
  • Senegal / epidemiology
  • Species Specificity