Detection of Borrelia garinii in the USA

Rudenko, N.; Golovchenko, M.; Horak, A.; Grubhoffer, L.; Mongodin, E. F.; Fraser, C. M.; Qiu, W.; Luft, B. J.; Morgan, R. G.; Casjens, S. R.; Schutzer, S. E.

doi:10.1101/2022.05.15.491491

bioRxiv · 10.1101/2022.05.15.491491

Detection of Borrelia garinii in the USA

Rudenko, N.·Golovchenko, M.·Horak, A.·Grubhoffer, L.·Mongodin, E. F.·Fraser, C. M.·Qiu, W.·Luft, B. J.·Morgan, R. G.·Casjens, S. R.·Schutzer, S. E.

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Abstract

Borrelia garinii, is a cause of Lyme disease in Europe and Asia. For the first time, we report it in the southeastern United States in rodents. Whole genome sequencing and phylogenetic analysis revealed that USA-located B. garinii is part of a clade consisting primarily of few European and majority of Far Eastern strains. Continued surveillance of wildlife hosts and ticks is necessary to assess the ecological status and public health risks of B. garinii in southeastern US.

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Rudenko, N., Golovchenko, M., Horak, A., Grubhoffer, L., Mongodin, E. F., Fraser, C. M., Qiu, W., Luft, B. J., Morgan, R. G., Casjens, S. R., Schutzer, S. E.. 2022-05-15. Detection of Borrelia garinii in the USA. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.05.15.491491

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