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. 2022 Mar 31:46:100978.
doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2022.100978. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Serological evidence of possible Borrelia afzelii lyme disease in Greece

I Karageorgou  1 , M Koutantou  1 , I Papadogiannaki  1 , A Voulgari-Kokota  1 , S Makka  1 , E Angelakis  1
Affiliations

Serological evidence of possible Borrelia afzelii lyme disease in Greece

I Karageorgou et al. New Microbes New Infect. .

Abstract

Suggestions that Lyme disease exists in Greece remain controversial and no study to date has definitively identified the presence of a Borrelia species that infects humans. We examined patients throughout Greece suspected for Lyme disease by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and by western blotting for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species. We found one patient positive for Borrelia burgdorferi and two patients positive for Borrelia afzelii specific IgG antibodies. Both B. afzelii patients were suffering by neurological manifestations and had never traveled abroad. We provide serological evidence of two autochthonous Lyme disease cases in Greece, possibly caused by B. afzelii.

Keywords: Borrelia afzelii; Greece; Lyme borrelia; lyme disease.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
IgG Western blotting results for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species complex positive patients.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Human and tick presence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species to countries close to Greece.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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