Borrelia spp. (Infection with)

Borrelia spp. include the agents of Lyme disease and tickborne relapsing fever in humans and animals. They are Gram-negative spirochaetes. There are 42 species in the Borrelia genus: 21 in the tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF) group, 20 in the Lyme-Borreliosis (LB) group, and one (B. turcica) associated with reptiles. The LB groups are split into B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s. s.) and B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s. l.). The former can cause disease in both humans and animals while the latter include B. burgdorferi s.s. mainly causes disease in humans. The primary cause of pathology in the LB group for both humans and animals is B. burgdorferi s. s. Borrelia turcica has unknown pathology in reptiles, wildlife, domestic animals, or humans.