Borrelia miyamotoi

Borrelia miyamotoi
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Spirochaetes
Class:	Spirochaetes
Order:	Spirochaetales
Family:	Spirochaetaceae
Genus:	Borrelia
Species:	B. miyamotoi
Binomial name
Borrelia miyamotoi Fukunaga et al. 1995

Borrelia miyamotoi is a spirochete bacterium in the genus Borrelia. A zoonotic bacterium, B. miyamotoi can be transferred to humans through the hard (Ixodes) ticks, the same tick species that spread B. burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, and Babesia microti, the causative agent of babesiosis. Although infection can cause some similar symptoms including fever, headache, fatigue, and muscle aches, acute Lyme disease often presents with rash, while infection with B. miyamotoi does not; it remains unclear whether B. miyamotoi causes a relapsing fever syndrome.

Etymology

A genus of Gram-negative, anaerobic, spirochete bacteria, Borrelia was named after French biologist Amédée Borrel. In 1995, Masahito Fukunaga et al. isolated a novel Borrelia species and named it Borrelia miyamotoi in honor of Kenji Miyamoto, who first isolated spirochetes from ixodid ticks in Hokkaido, Japan.

The pathogen has been found in New Hampshire ticks.

References

This article incorporates public domain text from the CDC as cited.