Borrelia Burgdorferi

PRESENTED BY:
 NOMENCLATURE
DOMAIN BACTERIA
Phylum Spirochaetes
Order Spirochaetales
Family Spirochaetaceae
Genus Borrelia
Species B. burgdorferi
 HISTORY

• Named after ‘WILLY BURGDORFER’

• Isolated bacterium in 1982
• Species complex
• Known to cause disease called LYME
 MORPHOLOGY AND FEATURES
• Resembles other spirochetes
• Outer and inner membrane with a thin layer of peptidoglycan in between
• Outer membrane lacks lipopolysaccharide
• Shape- flat wave like
• 0.3 µm wide
• 5-to-20 µm in length
 MORPHOLOGY AND FEATURES
• Microaerobic
• Motile spirochete
• 7-to-11 bundled periplasmic flagella
• At each end allows it to move
• High virulence factor
• Slow-growing (24 to 48 hours)
 ETIOLOGIC AGENT
• Causative agent for LYME DISEASE
• Effects approx. 300,000 people in US annually
• Early treatment can lead to permanent cure
• In severe cases, symptoms like
• Arthritis and encephalopathy may appear
• Which may not be cured
 RESERVIOR HOST
• White footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) is the principal host
• Other hosts are:
• Chipmunks (Tamias striatus)
• Short tailed and masked shrews (Blarina brevicauda)
• Eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis)
• Minor hosts include rats and kangaroo rats
 VIRULENCE FACTORS
• Critical virulence factors are:
• OspC lipoprotein
• DbpA lipoprotein
• Highly variable
• Their sequence facilitates discrimination among B. burgdorferi isolates
 LIFE CYCLE
• Circulates between ticks and vertebrate host
• Enzootic cycle
• Transferred only through blood feed
• Humans are dead end hosts
• Nymphs molt into ticks
• They grow and feed on mammals that usually don’t support their survival
 LYME DISEASE

• Zoonotic, vector-borne disease

• Transmitted by ticks (vector for BABESIA and ANAPLASMA)
• Tick transmits saliva to human
 SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
• Fever
• Headache
• Fatigue
• Neck stiffness
• Swollen lymph nodes
• Skin rash called erythema migrans
 TREATMENT
• Oral Antibiotics
• Standard treatment at early stage
• Doxycycline for adults and children
• Amoxicillin and
• Cefuroxime
• For adults and younger children, pregnant or breast feeding women
 PREVENTION
• Use insect repellent
• Remove ticks promptly
• Apply pesticides
• Reduce tick habitats
• VACCINE- Recombinant Borrelia burgdorferi outer surface-protein A
 REFRENCES
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545822/
• https://www.pnas.org/content/116/27/13498
 Q/A SESSION
• Lyme is a viral disease • Lyme symptoms include all
a) Yes except

b) No a) Fever
b) Asthma
c) Fatigue
d) Rash
 Q/A SESSION
• Lyme is curable • Which protein is involved in
a) Yes vaccination?
b) No a) B
c) May be b) C
d) Unknown c). A
d) All of the above
Thank you!!
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