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Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1123-1128, Vol. 42, No. 3
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.3.1123-1128.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Isolation and Characterization of Borrelia hermsii Associated with Two Foci of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever in California

Curtis L. Fritz,1* Lawrence R. Bronson,1 Charles R. Smith,1 Martin E. Schriefer,2 James R. Tucker,1 and Tom G. Schwan3

California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California,1 Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado,2 Laboratory of Human Bacterial Pathogenesis, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana3

Received 7 July 2003/ Returned for modification 23 September 2003/ Accepted 28 November 2003

Relapsing fever, caused by the spirochete Borrelia hermsii and transmitted by the soft tick Ornithodoros hermsi, is endemic in many rural mountainous areas of California. Between 1996 and 1998, 12 cases of relapsing fever associated with two exposure sites in northern California were investigated. Follow-up at exposure sites included collection of soft ticks and serum specimens from sylvatic rodents. Attempts to cultivate spirochetes were made through inoculation of patient blood into mice and by feeding Ornithodoros ticks on mice. Three isolates of B. hermsii were recovered from two blood specimens and one pool of ticks. The protein and plasmid profiles of the three isolates were comparable to those of previous B. hermsii isolates from the western United States. Western immunoblotting of patient sera demonstrated an expanding immunologic response to antigens within four distinct molecular weight regions by 3 to 4 weeks postonset. Antibody to B. hermsii was detected in sera from 4 of 11 yellow-pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus); no other rodent species collected were seropositive.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Health Services, MS 7307, P.O. Box 997413, Sacramento, CA 95899-7413. Phone: (916) 552-9730. Fax: (916) 552-9725. E-mail: cfritz{at}dhs.ca.gov.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, March 2004, p. 1123-1128, Vol. 42, No. 3
0095-1137/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JCM.42.3.1123-1128.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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