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. 2020 Sep;26(9):2201-2204.
doi: 10.3201/eid2609.191501.

Human Borrelia miyamotoi Infection, Austria

Selma Tobudic, Heinz Burgmann, Gerold Stanek, Stefan Winkler, Anna-Margarita Schötta, Markus Obermüller, Mateusz Markowicz, Heimo Lagler

Human Borrelia miyamotoi Infection, Austria

Selma Tobudic et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

We report a human case of Borrelia miyamotoi infection diagnosed in Austria. Spirochetes were detected in Giemsa-stained blood smears. The presence of B. miyamotoi in the patient's blood was confirmed by PCR, and phylogenetic analysis identified an infection with a strain from Europe.

Keywords: Austria; Borrelia miyamotoi; bacteria; recurrent fever; rituximab; tickborne infections; vector-borne infections.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of the course of symptoms and treatment, including laboratory test results, for a patient with Borrelia miyamotoi infection (including Giemsa stain of thin blood smear on day 92), Austria. Arrows indicate spirochetes. Original magnification × 100.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Phylogenetic tree based on the 16S rRNA gene of Borrelia miyamotoi from a patient in Austria (Bm4667; arrow) and reference sequences. This phylogenetic tree was constructed by using the maximum-likelihood method based on the general time reversible model. The tree is drawn to scale, with bootstrap values shown at the nodes of the tree, inferred from 600 replicates. A total of 1,199 bp of B. miyamotoi 16S rRNA gene sequences was used in the final dataset, which involved 34 nt sequences and in which gaps and missing data were deleted. Evolutionary analyses were conducted in MEGA7 (https://www.megasoftware.net). The patient isolate clustered together with strains found in ticks from Europe. Information of the source and country for reference isolates is shown in parentheses after strain designation. Scale bar indicates substitutions per site.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts