Tick-Borne Infection Borrelia Miyamotoi Discovered in the United States

Tick-Borne Infection Borrelia Miyamotoi Discovered in the United States (Video)

Similar to Lyme disease, a new tick-borne infection known as Borrelia miyamotoi has been discovered in people in the United States.

A new tick-borne infection that shares many similarities with Lyme disease has been discovered in 18 patients in southern New England and neighboring New York by researchers at the Yale Schools of Public Health and Medicine. The report is published in the Jan. 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

It is the first time that the disease — so new that it does not yet have a name — has been confirmed in humans in the United States.

Blood tests were used to detect evidence of infection by a bacterium that is found in deer ticks and is related to the one that causes Lyme disease. The researchers found positive results for the new infection in 21 percent of 14 patients with unexplained summertime febrile illness, 3 percent of 273 patients with Lyme disease or suspected Lyme disease, and 1 percent of 584 healthy people living in areas where Lyme disease is endemic.

More at: http://scitechdaily.com/tick-borne-infection-borrelia-miyamotoi-discovered-in-the-united-states/