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. 2003 Sep;9(9):1151-4.
doi: 10.3201/eid0909.030280.

Tick-borne relapsing fever caused by Borrelia hermsii, Montana

Tom G Schwan  1 , Paul F Policastro, Zachary Miller, Robert L Thompson, Todd Damrow, James E Keirans
Affiliations

Tick-borne relapsing fever caused by Borrelia hermsii, Montana

Tom G Schwan et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2003 Sep.

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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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Borrelia hermsii in a thin smear of mouse blood stained with Wright-Giemsa stain and visualized with oil immersion bright-field microscopy (X600) for the confirmation of infection with relapsing fever spirochetes in humans and other animals. Scale bar = 20 μm.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Borrelia hermsii in the blood of one patient (case 3) stained with rabbit hyper-immune serum and anti-rabbit fluorescein isothiocyanate. Scale bar = 20 μm. (B) An Ornithodoros hermsi nymph collected from the attic of the cabin. The length of the tick is 3.0 mm, excluding the legs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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