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Review
. 2013 Aug;89(2):288-92.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.12-0691.

Relapsing fever borreliae in Africa

Haitham Elbir  1 , Didier Raoult, Michel Drancourt
Affiliations
Review

Relapsing fever borreliae in Africa

Haitham Elbir et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

The study of relapsing fever borreliae in Africa has long suffered from the use of non-specific laboratory tools for the direct detection of these spirochetes in clinical and vector specimens. Accordingly, Borrelia hispanica, Borrelia crocidurae, Borrelia duttonii, and Borrelia recurrentis have traditionally been distinguished on the basis of geography and vector and the unproven hypothesis that each species was exclusive to one vector. The recent sequencing of three relapsing fever Borrelia genomes in our laboratory prompted the development of more specific tools and a reappraisal of the epidemiology in Africa. Five additional potential species still need to be cultured from clinical and vector sources in East Africa to further assess their uniqueness. Here, we review the molecular evidence of relapsing fever borreliae in hosts and ectoparasites in Africa and explore the diversity, geographical distribution, and vector association of these pathogens for Africans and travelers to Africa.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Geographical distribution of African relapsing fever of the Borrelia species.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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