Lyme Disease: CDC Discovers New Bacteria Species

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have discovered a new species of bacteria, called "Borrelia mayonii," that can cause Lyme disease in people, joining "Borrelia burgdorferi" as the only known causers of the sickness. The discovery was made in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic and Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota health officials.

"This discovery adds another important piece of information to the complex picture of tickborne diseases in the United States," Jeannine Petersen, a Ph.D. microbiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said according to DB Techno.

Only six patients have been examined thus far, limiting the information available about possibly differences between the two bacteria's symptoms. So far, "B. mayonii" causes nausea and vomiting, and a higher bacteria concentration in the blood than the previously known bacteria. However, it appears to also cause fever, headache, rash and neck pain, as well as arthiritis in the later stages of the disease, similar to "B. burgdorferi." The rash associated with the new discovery also differs slightly from the normal bulls-eye rash.

As of now, "B. mayonii" is limited to the upper Midwest region of the United States, not being identified in any of the other 43 states' total 25,000 blood samples examined, according to NewsOXY. Dr. Bobbi Pritt, a medical director at the Mayo Clinic, said that though it appears to be an emerging bacteria, the research team is still uncertain if "B. mayonii" has been in the area for some time.

"We plan to continue collaborating with Mayo clinic and state health departments in the Upper Midwest to find more patients infected with this bacteria, to look for additional areas where infected ticks live, and to identify other bacteria that can cause tick-borne disease," Petersen said, reported NewsOXY.

This discovery comes alongside a study that completed the genome sequencing of the Lyme disease-carrying deer tick, or "Ixodes scapularis," by Purdue University scientists.

"The genome provides a foundation for a whole new era in tick research," Catherine Hill, a Purdue professor of medical entomology, said according to a news release. "Now that we've cracked the tick's code, we can begin to design strategies to control ticks, to understand how they transmit disease and to interfere with that process."

The Purdue study, which took place over the course of a decade, offered insight into how Lyme disease is transmitted by ticks, as well as how they acquire these bacteria.

Roughly 30,000 cases of Lyme disease cases are reported in the U.S. each year, but the CDC estimates that the actual number is 329,000 per year, with many going either unreported or being misdiagnosed. Though it isn't fatal, Lyme disease can be permanently damaging if it is not treated before it reaches the chronic phase, according to the CDC.

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