Pritt, Bobbi

Bobbi S. Pritt, MD, MSc, DTM&H
Director, Clinical Parasitology and Vector-Borne Diseases,
Associate Professor, Pathology of Laboratory Medicine Division of Clinical Microbiology
Mayo Clinic, MN

“Borrelia Mayonii: A New Cause of Lyme Disease in the Upper Midwestern US”

Bobbi Pritt, MD, FCAP is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Director of the Clinical Parasitology and Vector-borne Diseases Laboratories in the Division of Clinical Microbiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She is board certified in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology as well as Medical Microbiologist, and holds a Master’s degree in Medical Parasitology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Diploma in Tropical Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians in London.

Dr. Pritt has presented and published on many topics, including detection and characterization of two new tick-borne organisms, an Ehrlichia and Borrelia species, that infected humans in the midwestern United States.

Conference Lecture Summary

Dr. Bobbi Pritt will describe the discovery of a novel pathogen causing Lyme disease in the upper Midwestern United States. This new bacterium, preliminarily called Borrelia mayonii, causes higher levels of spirochetemia than what is seen with Borrelia burgdorferi, and has been associated with potential neurologic involvement and severe disease. Dr. Pritt will discuss the tests that lead to the detection of B. mayonii, the clinical features observed so far, and the preferred diagnostic methods.