@article{fdi:010057018,
  title = {{M}ultispacer sequence typing relapsing fever {B}orreliae in {A}frica},
  author = {{H}aitham, {E}. and {G}imenez, {G}. and {S}okhna, {C}heikh and {B}ilcha, {K}. {D}. and {A}li, {J}. and {B}arker, {S}. {C}. and {C}utler, {S}. {J}. and {R}aoult, {D}idier and {D}rancourt, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{B}ackground: {I}n {A}frica, relapsing fevers are neglected arthropod-borne infections caused by closely related {B}orrelia species. {T}hey cause mild to deadly undifferentiated fever particularly severe in pregnant women. {L}ack of a tool to genotype these {B}orrelia organisms limits knowledge regarding their reservoirs and their epidemiology. {M}ethodology/{P}rincipal {F}indings: {G}enome sequence analysis of {B}orrelia crocidurae, {B}orrelia duttonii and {B}orrelia recurrentis yielded 5 intergenic spacers scattered between 10 chromosomal genes that were incorporated into a multispacer sequence typing ({MST}) approach. {S}equencing these spacers directly from human blood specimens previously found to be infected by {B}. recurrentis (30 specimens), {B}. duttonii (17 specimens) and {B}. crocidurae (13 specimens) resolved these 60 strains and the 3 type strains into 13 species-specific spacer types in the presence of negative controls. {B}. crocidurae comprised of 8 spacer types, {B}. duttonii of 3 spacer types and {B}. recurrentis of 2 spacer types. {C}onclusions/{S}ignificance: {P}hylogenetic analyses of {MST} data suggested that {B}. duttonii, {B}. crocidurae and {B}. recurrentis are variants of a unique ancestral {B}orrelia species. {MST} proved to be a suitable approach for identifying and genotyping relapsing fever borreliae in {A}frica. {I}t could be applied to both vectors and clinical specimens.},
  keywords = {},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}los {N}eglected {T}ropical {D}iseases},
  volume = {6},
  numero = {6},
  pages = {e1652},
  ISSN = {1935-2735},
  year = {2012},
  DOI = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0001652},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010057018},
}