Borrelia miyamotoi in the US

CDC Figure. Borrelia miyamotoi positivity rates in human-biting Ixodes scapularis and I. pacificus ticks, United States, 2013–2019. Gray shading indicates states in which B. miyamotoi was detected in human-biting ticks.

In a recent article published by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), authors detected Borrelia miyamotoi in ticks from 19 states in the US. Investigators tested 39,198 ticks for B. miyamotoi that were submitted to the public tick testing program at the University of Massachusetts during May 2013–December 2019. All ticks tested were found on humans.

In Oregon and California, B. miyamotoi was found in Ixodes pacificus ticks. Throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern US, B. miyamotoi was detected in Ixodes scapularis ticks. No ticks carrying B. miyamotoi were detected south of Virginia. It was also found that Lyme disease bacterium was 19 times more prevalent than B. miyamotoi in the I. scapularis ticks. Of note, almost 60% of B. miyamotoi–positive I. scapularis ticks had concurrent infections.

Read the full article here

Read additional LDA articles on B. miyamotoi here