An epidemiological study of tick-borne relapsing fever in Dodoma District,

Abstract

The Muungano village population in central Tanzania was investigated for Borrelia spirochetes by blood slide examination and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR was highly sensitive in detecting infections when compared to microscopy. Using PCR, Borrelia species were identified in 11.1% of children with fever and in 4.2% apparently healthy children. Genotyping the spirochetes from 18 infected children identified Borrelia duttonii and a new unnamed species, not known from humans or other vertebrates before. This new species is also incriminated as the cause of tick-borne relapsing fever in the central region of Tanzania.