Transmission of the relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia miyamotoi, by single transovarially-infected larval Ixodes scapularis ticks.

ABSTRACT: The relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia miyamotoi, is increasingly recognized as a cause of human illness (hard tick-borne relapsing fever) in the United States. We previously demonstrated that single nymphs of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, can transmit B. miyamotoi to experimental hosts. However, two recent epidemiological studies from the Northeastern United States indicate that human cases of hard tick-borne relapsing fever peak during late summer, after the spring peak for nymphal tick activity but coincident with the peak seasonal activity period of larval ticks in the Northeast. These epidemiological findings, together with evidence that B. miyamotoi can be passed from infected I. scapularis females to their offspring, suggest that bites by transovarially-infected larval

SUBMITTER: Breuner NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6135663 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature