Archive for the ‘Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group)’ Category

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Borrelia Miyamotoi in NY Deer Ticks

https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-020-04569-2

Spatial and temporal patterns of the emerging tick-borne pathogen Borrelia miyamotoi in blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) in New York

Parasites & Vectors volume 14, Article number: 51 (2021) Cite this article

Abstract

Borrelia miyamotoi, a bacterium that causes relapsing fever, is found in ixodid ticks throughout the northern hemisphere. The first cases of human infection with B. miyamotoi were identified in 2011. In the eastern USA, blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) become infected by feeding on an infected vertebrate host, or through transovarial transmission. We surveyed B. miyamotoi prevalence in ticks within forested habitats in Dutchess County, New York, and identified possible reservoir hosts. To assess spatial variation in infection, we collected questing nymphal ticks at > 150 sites. To assess temporal variation in infection, we collected questing nymphs for 8 years at a single study site. We collected questing larval ticks from nine plots to estimate the amount of transovarial transmission. To evaluate potential reservoir hosts, we captured 14 species of mammal and bird hosts naturally infested with larval blacklegged ticks and held these hosts in the laboratory until ticks fed to repletion and molted to nymphs. We determined infection for all ticks using quantitative polymerase chain reaction.

  • The overall infection prevalence of questing nymphal ticks across all sites was ~ 1%, but prevalence at individual sites was as high as 9.1%.
  • We detected no significant increase in infection through time.
  • Only 0.4% of questing larval ticks were infected.
  • Ticks having fed as larvae from short-tailed shrews, red squirrels, and opossums tended to have higher infection prevalence than did ticks having fed on other hosts.

Further studies of the role of hosts in transmission are warranted. The locally high prevalence of B. miyamotoi in the New York/New England landscape suggests the importance of vigilance by health practitioners and the public.

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**Comment**

A perfect example of how there can be high infection rates in humans but low infection rates in ticks.

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), research, Testing, Ticks

Lyme Disease: Are We Looking For the Wrong Culprit?

http://  Approx. 18 Min

Oct. 1, 2020

Lyme Disease: Are We Looking For the Wrong Culprit?

Tatjana Mijatovic, PhD

The video describes the overall high expansion of undiagnosed Lyme disease cases worldwide and the possible link to screening only for B. burgdorferi and rarely testing for B. miyamotoi. Identify the utilization of phage-based testing and bacterial presence as related to testing choices and late/chronic stage patients Discuss how the overall high failure rate of tick-borne infection (TBI)-related testing underscores the necessity for novel approaches.

Background: Borrelia-related diseases (Lyme disease and relapsing fevers) are increasingly prevalent, severe, difficult to diagnose and treat. The high failure rate of tick-borne infection testing undermine treatments‘ strategy and monitoring.
Aims: The goal of this contribution is to bring the focus on the importance to enlarge borreliosis-related testing targets and shed some light on high prevalence of B. miyamotoi presence both in ticks and late stage undiagnosed patients.

Methods: Bacteriophages could become a diagnostic tool based on the principle that if there are phages it is because there are living bacteria. Phelix Charity together with Leicester University microbiology department have recently developed a Borrelia Phage-based PCR test searching for 3 major Borrelia groups (Borrelia burgdorferi sl (including B. burgdorferi ss, B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. spielmanii, etc), Borrelia miyamotoi and Relapsing fever group (B. recurrentis, B. hermsii, etc). This method is efficiently used to assess both human samples and ticks.

Results: Since July 2019, over 2100 results from patients originating various countries have been obtained. Testing included mainly late stage / chronic patients and the aggregated data are showing 30 % negative results and 70% positive among which over 60 % indicated the presence of specific Borrelia miyamotoi phages. Furthermore, ticks from 2019 and 2020 have been analyzed by the same method. The obtained results on ticks showed that over 60% were found positive for Borrelia miyamotoi and only 15% for B. burgdorferi sl.

Conclusion: This is the first large scale report on prevalence of B. miyamotoi in the ticks, as well as in late stages of borreliosis. Seen a high prevalence of B. miyamotoi in tested ticks, further supported by similar percentages found in tested patients, one can hypothesize that the high failure rate of current two-tier screening testing, searching for B. burgdorferi sl only, might be due to the wrong testing target. In other words, the overall high expansion of undiagnosed Lyme disease cases worldwide might be linked to the screening choice focusing only on B. burgdorferi sl and only rarely testing for B. miyamotoi while the later one seems to be much more prevalent. Further accumulation of data both from the patients and ticks should bring the answer to the question are we searching for a wrong culprit. Searching for actual bacterial presence using phage-based testing might pacify the debate and controversies on testing choices and late/chronic stage patients.

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**Comment**

Since Borrelia miyamotoi is not a reportable illness to the CDC, no one has any clue about prevalence but reports are coming in continually that it’s highly likely to be a much bigger problem than ‘authorities’ believe.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/14/how-many-negative-lyme-tests-are-due-to-b-miyamotoi/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/18/what-you-need-to-know-about-borrelia-miyamotoi/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/23/could-borrelia-miyamotoi-infections-explain-persistent-lyme-symptoms/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/15/b-miyamotoi-in-ca-ticks-for-a-long-time/

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Testing

Could Borrelia Miyamotoi Infections Explain Persistent Lyme Symptoms?

https://danielcameronmd.com/borrelia-miyamotoi-persistent-symptoms-lyme-disease/

COULD BORRELIA MIYAMOTOI INFECTIONS EXPLAIN PERSISTENT SYMPTOMS IN LYME DISEASE PATIENTS?

borrelia miyamotoi and lyme disease

 

“This is the first study to investigate the presence of B. miyamotoi antibodies in a clinical population experiencing persistent symptoms and suspected tick-borne illness,” writes Delaney and colleagues from Columbia University Irving Medical Center. [1] According to the findings, Lyme disease patients testing positive for Borrelia miyamotoi were more likely to present with sleepiness and pain.

By

Borrelia miyamotoi (BM) is another tick-borne pathogen and “unlike Lyme disease, erythema migrans rash, and arthralgias are uncommon,” the authors write in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. The infection is diagnosed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) called glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (GlpQ) enzyme immunoassay.

Investigators looked at the incidence of BM in 82 patients who were seeking a second opinion regarding persistent symptoms which included fatigue, pain, neurocognitive, and psychiatric problems.

In their study, 1 out of 4 Lyme disease patients tested positive for Borrelia miyamotoi,using a GlpQ test. The BM positive group were significantly more likely to suffer from sleepiness (according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and from pain, as measured by the McGill VAS Pain Scale, and Zung Anxiety Scale.

Eight patients with Lyme disease and Borrelia miyamotoi were hospitalized.  “Eight of 21 (38%) reported hospitalization (seven medical and one psychiatric) since symptom onset, three for cardiac and two for neurologic abnormalities,” according to the authors.

All of the patients, except for one, with Lyme disease (LD) and Borrelia miyamotoi were treated with antibiotics.  “All 21 received prior antibiotic treatment, of whom 20 received at least 2 weeks of doxycycline or amoxicillin.”

Five of the 21 patients with LD and BM lived outside of the with Northeast/Mid-Atlantic states. “Two lived in California, two lived in Florida, and one lived in Illinois.”

Study insights

The study found that clinicians are not testing for Borrelia miyamotoi, as only 1 out of the 82 study participants were tested for the infection.

Furthermore, clinicians were often dismissive of a tick-borne illness.  “Many patients reported that their clinicians dismissed the possibility of tick-borne illness both at the onset and during the course of their illness and attributed symptoms to psychological stress,” writes Delaney.

The authors raise a public health concern:

“In Lyme disease, delayed diagnosis and treatment is associated with prolonged symptoms. The same may prove true for B. miyamotoi disease.”

Editor’s note: A co-infection with Borrelia miyamotoi may explain why some Lyme disease patients are sicker than others. Unfortunately, there are still problems with the reliability of  testing for Borrelia miyamotoi.  There is also uncertainty over the best treatment approach for the infection.

Related Articles:

The best antibiotics to treat Borrelia miyamotoi?

Doctors face challenges in diagnosing Borrelia miyamotoi

Don’t count on a relapsing fever to diagnose Borrelia miyamotoi

References:
  1. Delaney SL, Murray LA, Aasen CE, Bennett CE, Brown E, Fallon BA. Borrelia miyamotoi Serology in a Clinical Population With Persistent Symptoms and Suspected Tick-Borne Illness. Front Med (Lausanne). 2020;7:567350.
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**Comment**
 
 
Many great points:
 
  • Could Bm explain some with persistent symptoms (highly likely)
  • Many of the patients here don’t live in what are considered Lyme-endemic areas, blowing further holes into the whole – “you have to live in the North or Eastern U.S. to be infected” paradigm.  Drop those maps like a bad habit!
  • These people had SEVERE symptoms.  Nearly 40% were hospitalized!
  • Clinicians need to WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.  Lyme/ MSIDS patients quickly learn that those who are coinfected are sicker for longer.  Mainstream medicine is in the Stone-Ages on this fact.  There’s a real pandemic but it ain’t COVID.
  • This letter to the editor highlights the problem with coinfections & abysmal testing:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/23/tick-bite-letter-to-the-editor/

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme

Monitoring Roadkill for Borrelia Genospecies

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33266311/

Hedgehogs, Squirrels, and Blackbirds as Sentinel Hosts for Active Surveillance of Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi Complex in Urban and Rural Environments

Karolina Majerová 1 2, Václav Hönig 2 3, Michal Houda 4, Petr Papežík 5, Manoj Fonville 6, Hein Sprong 6, Natalie Rudenko 2, Maryna Golovchenko 2, Barbora Černá Bolfíková 7, Pavel Hulva 8 9, Daniel Růžek 2 3, Lada Hofmannová 5, Jan Votýpka 1 2 10, David Modrý 2 5 11
Affiliations expand

PMID: 33266311DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms8121908

Free article

Abstract

Lyme borreliosis (LB), caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) complex, is one of the most common vector-borne zoonotic diseases in Europe. Knowledge about the enzootic circulation of Borrelia pathogens between ticks and their vertebrate hosts is epidemiologically important and enables assessment of the health risk for the human population. In our project, we focused on the following vertebrate species:

  • European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
  • Northern white-breasted hedgehog (E. roumanicus)
  • Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris)
  • Common blackbird (Turdus merula).

The cadavers of accidentally killed animals used in this study constitute an available source of biological material, and we have confirmed its potential for wide monitoring of B. burgdorferi s.l. presence and genospecies diversity in the urban environment.

High infection rates were observed in all four target host species; mixed infections by several genospecies were detected on the level of individuals, as well as in particular tissue samples.
  • 90% for E. erinaceus
  • 73% for E. roumanicus
  • 91% for S. vulgaris
  • 68% for T. merula

These findings show the usefulness of multiple tissue sampling as tool for revealing the occurrence of several genospecies within one animal and the risk of missing particular B. burgdorferi s.l. genospecies when looking in one organ alone.

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**Comment**

You have to admire their tenacity!

And this needs to be done on human autopsies!  The high infection rates aren’t surprising because they are looking in multiple tissues.  This should be shared widely as a reason why human patients are not getting the attention they deserve.

This doctor shows how Lyme is in tissues and doesn’t hang out long in the blood:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/15/lyme-disease-is-a-small-vessel-disease-dr-klemann/  This is why serology testing and short-term treatments don’t work.

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Testing

How Many “Negative” Lyme Tests Are Due to B. Miyamotoi?

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-sci-miyamotoi-or-lyme/

LYME SCI: How many “negative” Lyme tests are due to B. miyamotoi?

By Lonnie Marcum

July 20, 2020

is it lyme or something else
Do you have all the symptoms of Lyme disease but test negative? Besides the fact the standard test for Lyme misses half the cases, there may be another reason—Borrelia miyamotoi.

A new study out of San Francisco State University (SFSU) has found more Borrelia miyamotoi than Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) in Ixodes pacificus ticks in some areas of Northern California.

Borrelia miyamotoi disease poses a difficult problem for patients and doctors who are unfamiliar with it. Its symptoms may present as viral-like or Lyme-like and there is currently no FDA-approved test.

What is Borrelia miyamotoi?

The family of tick-borne Borrelia is divided into two broad groups that correspond to the disease manifestations they cause in humans: Lyme disease or relapsing fever. Borrelia miyamotoi is in the tick-borne relapsing fever group (TBRF).

Unlike B. miyamotoi, most North American TBRF species (B. hermsii, B. turicatae, B. parkeri), are transmitted by soft-bodied ticks.

B. miyamotoi is different. It’s transmitted by the same blacklegged tick that carries Lyme disease and several other pathogens.

Furthermore, B. miyamotoi can be transmitted from the adult female tick to her eggs. This is called transovarial transmission. It means that baby ticks can be infected with B. miyamotoi from the get-go.

In contrast, blacklegged ticks don’t start out being infected with Lyme. They must acquire the infection by feeding on an animal that carries it—such as a mouse or squirrel.

The research and findings

For the SFSU study, researchers collected 1,358 Ixodes pacificus ticks and 370 rodents from eight different sites in Northern California from April to May 2018. The ticks included 894 larvae, 281 nymphs and 183 adults.

On average the following tested positive for B. miyamotoi:

  • 0.11% of the larvae
  • 4.98% of nymphs
  • 8.74% of the adult ticks

With the prevalence of infection increasing at each life stage of the tick, and each stage including one blood meal, the researchers estimate that horizontal transmission (from mammal to tick) accounts for 97% of B. miyamotoi infection in nymphal ticks and 43% of infection in adult ticks.

Interestingly, the researchers detected B. burgdorferi in 9.86% of nymph and 2.33% of the adult I. pacificus ticks—a decrease in prevalence of 76% from one life stage to the next. In addition, an average of 5.21% of the mice had blood that tested positive for B. miyamotoi.

During the same time, researchers also took skin biopsies from the ears of the rodents they had collected, and examined them for the presence of miyamotoi infection and Lyme.  They found more B. miyamotoi in the blood samples and more B. burgdorferi in the skin.

This matches with other types of TBRF, which are more easily detected in human blood samples, especially when the person is symptomatic. In contrast, Lyme disease is harder to detect in blood samples after it disseminates throughout the body.

The SFSU authors conclude, “the human risk of B. miyamotoi in the western USA may be even greater than B. burgdorferi in certain disease hot spots.”
How this study compares

The SFSU study only included counties around the San Francisco Bay Area. However, a prior California Department of Public Health 12-year study found B. miyamotoi in I. pacificus ticks in 24 out of 48 California counties.

Another study published in 2018 by Professor Robert Lane, along with researchers at UC Berkeley and Yale, examined a biobank of frozen blood samples. The results showed that 26 out of 101 samples collected from residents of Mendocino County, California, in the 1980s were reactive for relapsing fever borreliosis, including B. miyamotoi.

Similarly, another study published in 2018 looked at blood samples drawn from patients in 25 California counties. The results showed positive testing for TBRF in 16 of those counties, with the highest rates of positivity coming from Santa Clara, Alameda, Marin and San Francisco.

That study used a novel laboratory technique that can detect multiple species of TBRF. Co-author Jyotsna Shaw, of IGeneX, Inc., says “we hope that these techniques can be used to develop accurate FDA-approved tests for the future.”

A hidden epidemic?

B. miyamotoi was discovered in ticks more than 20 years ago in Japan. But it wasn’t proven to cause illness in humans until 2011, when the first human cases were reported in Russia.

It is now known to be widespread in North America, wherever Ixodes scapularis ticks and Ixodes pacificus ticks are found.

Unfortunately, Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD) is not reportable to the CDC, and the standard test for Lyme disease will not detect it. Because of this, many patients are likely going undiagnosed, and therefore we really have no idea how widespread the illness is.

The symptoms of Borrelia Miyamotoi Disease (BMD)

(according to the CDC)

Symptoms

  • Fever
  • Chills
  • Fatigue
  • Severe headache
  • Muscle or joint pain
  • Dizziness, confusion, vertigo (uncommon)
  • Rash (uncommon)
  • Shortness of breath (uncommon)
  • Nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and anorexia (uncommon)

A recent feature in the New York Times discusses a difficult case where a patient tested negative for Lyme and many other conditions. Medical detective work by Dr. Brian Fallon of the  Columbia Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Center eventually determined that she suffered from B. miyamotoi. (She tested negative for Lyme disease. So what was wrong?)

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org .

References

Sambado, S., J. Salomon, A. Crews, and A. Swei. (2020) Mixed transmission modes promote persistence of an emerging tick-borne pathogen. Ecosphere 11(6):e03171. 10.1002/ecs2.3171

Krause PJ, Carroll M, Fedorova N, Brancato J, Dumouchel C, Akosa F, et al. (2018) Human Borrelia miyamotoi infection in California: Serodiagnosis is complicated by multiple endemic Borrelia species. PLoS ONE 13(2): e0191725. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191725

Padgett K, Bonilla D, Kjemtrup A, Vilcins I-M, Yoshimizu MH, Hui L, et al. (2014) Large Scale Spatial Risk and Comparative Prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in Ixodes pacificus. PLoS ONE 9(10): e110853. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110853

Jeomhee Mun, Rebecca J. Eisen, Lars Eisen, Robert S. Lane (2006) Detection of a Borrelia miyamotoi Sensu Lato Relapsing-Fever Group Spirochete from Ixodes pacificus in California , Journal of Medical Entomology, 43 (1) 120–123, https://doi.org/10.1093/jmedent/43.1.120

Geoffrey E Lynn, Christine B Graham, Kalanthe Horiuchi, Lars Eisen, Tammi L Johnson, Robert S Lane, Rebecca J Eisen (2018) Prevalence and Geographic Distribution of Borrelia miyamotoi in Host-Seeking Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) Nymphs in Mendocino County, California, Journal of Medical Entomology, 55(3), 711–716, https://doi.org/10.1093/jme/tjx258

Borrelia miyamotoi Disease | Tick-borne Diseases | Ticks | CDC https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/tickbornediseases/borrelia-miyamotoi.html

Test Order | Submitting Specimens to CDC | Infectious Diseases Laboratories | CDC https://www.cdc.gov/laboratory/specimen-submission/detail.html?CDCTestCode=CDC-10532 via @CDCgov

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**Comment**
 
 
Since Borrelia miyamotoi is not a reportable illness to the CDC, no one has any clue about prevalence but reports are coming in continually that it’s highly likely to be a much bigger problem than ‘authorities’ believe.
 
It was recently discovered that:

Also, Borrelia miyamotoi has been in California ticks for a long time:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/15/b-miyamotoi-in-ca-ticks-for-a-long-time/

The following case shows how you can become infected while traveling:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/10/24/a-case-of-borrelia-miyamotoi/

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/18/what-you-need-to-know-about-borrelia-miyamotoi/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/17/borrelia-miyamotoi-infection-in-a-highly-endemic-area-of-lyme-disease/

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Testing