Tick-borne Relapsing Fever Caused by Borrelia hermsii, Montana

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Abstract

Five persons contracted tick-borne relapsing fever after staying in a cabin in western Montana. Borrelia hermsii was isolated from the blood of two patients, and Ornithodoros hermsi ticks were collected from the cabin, the first demonstration of this bacterium and tick in Montana. Relapsing fever should be considered when patients who reside or have vacationed in western Montana exhibit a recurring febrile illness.

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Most cited references 16

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GlpQ: an antigen for serological discrimination between relapsing fever and Lyme borreliosis.

T G Schwan, M E Schrumpf, B Hinnebusch … (1996)

Tick-borne relapsing fever is caused by numerous Borrelia species maintained in nature by Ornithodoros tick-mammal cycles. Serological confirmation is based on either an immunofluorescence assay or an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using whole cells or sonicated Borrelia hermsii as the antigen. However, antigenic variability of this bacterium's outer surface proteins and antigens shared with the Lyme disease spirochete (B. burgdorferi), may cause both false-negative and false-positive results when testing sera of patients suspected to have either relapsing fever or Lyme disease. To develop a specific serological test for relapsing fever, we created a genomic DNA library of B. hermsii, screened transformed Escherichia coli cells for immunoreactivity with high-titered (> or = 1:2,048) human anti-B. hermsii antiserum, and selected an immunoreactive clone (pSPR75) expressing a 39-kDa protein. DNA sequencing, subcloning, and serum adsorption experiments identified the immunoreactive protein as a homolog of GlpQ, a glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase identified previously in E. coli, Haemophilus influenzae, and Bacillus subtilis. Serum samples from humans and mice infected with B. hermsii or other species of relapsing fever spirochetes contained antibodies recognizing GlpQ, whereas serum samples from Lyme disease and syphilis patients were nonreactive. Serologic tests based on this antigen will identify people exposed previously to relapsing fever spirochetes and help clarify the distribution of relapsing fever and Lyme disease in situations in which the occurrence of their causative agents is uncertain.

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Tick-borne relapsing fever in North America.

Mark Dworkin, Tom Schwan, Donald Anderson (2002)

Relapsing fever is characterized by recurring episodes of fever and nonspecific symptoms (e.g., headache, myalgia, arthralgia, shaking chills, and abdominal complaints). The illness is caused by an infection from the Borrelia species (spirochetes) that may be acquired through the bite of an infected tick (Ornithodoros species) or contact with the hemolymph of an infected human body louse (Pediculus humanus). In North America, most cases have been acquired in the western United States, southern British Columbia, and few cases have been reported from Mexico. Most cases have been acquired from exposure to rustic tick-infested cabins and caves. This article reviews relapsing fever, especially tick-borne relapsing fever in North America.

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A Borrelia-specific monoclonal antibody binds to a flagellar epitope.

A Barbour, S F Hayes, R Heiland … (1986)

In immunofluorescence assays monoclonal antibody H9724 recognized eight species of the spirochetal genus Borrelia but not representatives of the genera Treponema, Leptospira, and Spirochaeta. We examined the reactivity of H9724 against subcellular components of Borrelia hermsii, an agent of relapsing fever, and B. burgdorferi, the cause of Lyme disease. H9724 bound to isolated periplasmic flagella of the two borreliae. In Western blots the antibody reacted with the predominant protein in flagellar preparations from B. hermsii and B. burgdorferi; the apparent molecular weights of these flagellins were 39,000 and 41,000, respectively.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Emerg Infect Dis

Journal ID (publisher-id): EID

Title: Emerging Infectious Diseases

Publisher: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

ISSN (Print): 1080-6040

ISSN (Electronic): 1080-6059

Publication date (Print): September 2003

Volume: 9

Issue: 9

Pages: 1151-1154

Affiliations

[* ]Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana, USA

[† ]Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Seattle, Washington, USA

[‡ ]Department of Public Health, State of Montana, Helena, Montana, USA

[§ ]Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA

Author notes

Address for correspondence: Tom Schwan, Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIAID, NIH, 903 South 4th Street, Hamilton, MT 59840, USA; fax: 406-363-9445; email: tom_schwan@ 123456nih.gov

Article

Publisher ID: 03-0280

DOI: 10.3201/eid0909.030280

PMC ID: 3016790

PubMed ID: 14519254

SO-VID: a99dd82c-6886-45c8-9e71-76ee69e6638b

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