New Lyme Disease-Like Infection Is On The Map In U.S.

New Lyme Disease-Like Infection Is On The Map In U.S.

Paging Dr. House: There a new tick-transmitted spirochete in town, and this wily relative of the organism that causes Lyme disease is probably sickening more than 4,300 Americans a year with relapsing fevers and flu-like symptoms, according to a new report. The good news: A round of common antibiotics appears capable of vanquishing the newly discovered threat. The organism, called Borrelia miyamotoi, was discovered in 1995 in Japan, but it was not until 2011 that disease hunters found and described evidence that it was making people sick in Central Russia. The organism was found in deer ticks in Connecticut in 2001 and in Northern California in 2006. So it was only a matter of time before the illness it causes was detected in American patients. Read more.

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