Журнал бактериологии и паразитологии

Абстрактный

Asymptomatic Borrelia burgdorferi infection in Xinjiang, China

Yuhui Tang, Qin Hao, Kanlin Wang, Yun Liu, He Song, Luhai Yu, Yuhan Zhang, Hui Dan, Mingyuan Wang, Yi Zhu, Hetaer Mo, Xia A, Jiang Long, Hongyan Li, Yinguer Ma and Qin Li

The natural history of asymptomatic Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi) infection and the genotype of the infected population in Xinjiang are unclear. We report here, based on molecular epidemiological studies of B. burgdorferi in a population from Tacheng, an endemic area in Xinjiang, China, the outcome of asymptomatic B. burgdorferi infection and the PCR result for B. burgdorferi in participants at a 2006 follow-up visit based on a seroepidemiological survey of B. burgdorferi infection in 2002, and determined serum antibody levels against B. burgdorferi in the participants by Western blot. Additionally, urine samples were collected from participants at the follow-up visit and tested by nested PCR for B. burgdorferi DNA. Eight positive products were sequenced by Borders Group Inc. We show that asymptomatic B. burgdorferi infections were more common than clinical cases of Lyme disease. Sequence analysis of the 5s-23SrRNA spacer region of eight PCR-positive samples revealed that seven were B. garinii and one was B. afzelii, genospecies identical to those infecting local vectors.