Publications

comparing the effect of a leaflet and a movie in preventing tick bites and lyme disease in the netherlands.	lyme disease (ld) has become the most common vector borne illness in the northern hemisphere. prevention relies predominantly on fostering protective behaviors (e.g., avoiding tick areas, using protective clothing and repellent, and doing routine tick checks post-exposure). the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness (in terms of knowledge, perceived severity and susceptibility, self-efficacy, response efficacy, intention, and behavior over time) and appreciation of a leaflet a ...	2016	27287731
modeling the geographic distribution of ixodes scapularis and ixodes pacificus (acari: ixodidae) in the contiguous united states.	in addition to serving as vectors of several other human pathogens, the black-legged tick, ixodes scapularis say, and western black-legged tick, ixodes pacificus cooley and kohls, are the primary vectors of the spirochete (borrelia burgdorferi) that causes lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in the united states. over the past two decades, the geographic range of i. pacificus has changed modestly while, in contrast, the i. scapularis range has expanded substantially, which likely ...	2016	27282813
erythema multiforme syndrome associated with acute acquired cytomegalovirus infection.		2016	27279865
global tn-seq analysis of carbohydrate utilization and vertebrate infectivity of borrelia burgdorferi.	borrelia burgdorferi maintains a complex life cycle between tick and vertebrate hosts. although some genes have been identified as contributing to bacterial adaptation in the different hosts, the list is incomplete. in this manuscript, we report the first use of transposon mutagenesis combined with high-throughput sequencing (tn-seq) in b. burgdorferi. we utilize the technique to investigate mechanisms of carbohydrate utilization in b. burgdorferi and the role of carbohydrate metabolism during m ...	2016	27279039
serological evidence of exposure to tick-borne agents in opossums (didelphis spp.) in the state of são paulo, brazil.	this work involved a serological investigation of tick-borne pathogens in opossums in eight municipalities of the state of são paulo, brazil. serum samples from 109 opossums (91 didelphis aurita and 18 didelphis albiventris) were tested to detect antibodies to rickettsia rickettsii (taiaçu strain, 1:64 cut-off) and ehrlichia canis (são paulo strain, 1:40 cut-off), by indirect immunofluorescence assay (ifa); and against borrelia burgdorferi (strain g39/40) by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (el ...	2016	27276663
calcium binding protects e-cadherin from cleavage by helicobacter pylori htra.	the cell adhesion and tumor suppressor protein e-cadherin is an important factor in the establishment and maintenance of epithelial integrity. e-cadherin is a single transmembrane protein, which consists of an intracellular domain (ic), a transmembrane domain (td), and five extracellular domains (ec). ec domains form homophilic interactions in cis and trans that require calcium binding to the linker region between the ec domains. in our previous studies, we identified the serine protease high te ...	2016	27274359
htra, a temperature- and stationary phase-activated protease involved in maturation of a key microbial virulence determinant, facilitates borrelia burgdorferi infection in mammalian hosts.	high-temperature requirement protease a (htra) represents a family of serine proteases that play important roles in microbial biology. unlike the genomes of most organisms, that of borrelia burgdorferi notably encodes a single htra gene product, termed bbhtra. previous studies identified a few substrates of bbhtra; however, their physiological relevance could not be ascertained, as targeted deletion of the gene has not been successful. here we show that bbhtra transcripts are induced during spir ...	2016	27271745
bilateral vestibular hypofunction and lyme disease: a causal link?		2017	27271288
prevalence of vector-borne pathogens in dogs from haiti.	canine vector-borne pathogens are common on some caribbean islands, but survey data in haiti are lacking. to determine the prevalence of selected vector-borne pathogens in dogs from haiti, we tested blood samples collected from 210 owned dogs, 28 (13.3%) of which were infested with rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks at the time of blood collection. no other tick species were identified on these dogs. a commercially available elisa identified antibodies to ehrlichia spp. in 69 (32.9%), antibodies to ...	2016	27270383
[months of antibiotic therapy in persistent symptoms of lyme disease without effect].		2016	27269781
molecular detection of bartonella spp. in terrestrial leeches (haemadipsa rjukjuana) feeding on human and animal blood in gageo-do, republic of korea.	leeches can transmit pathogens and are therefore potentially hazardous to human and animal health. however, only a few studies of diseases transmitted by land leeches have been reported. the purpose of the present study was to analyse which pathogens are carried in haemadipsa rjukjuana, the first recorded sanguivorous land leech in the republic of korea (rok).	2016	27267358
a clinical review of tick-borne diseases in arkansas.	tick-borne diseases are illnesses transmitted by ticks harboring wide variety of pathogens. arkansas is reported as one of the states with a high incidence of tick-borne diseases. in arkansas the four most frequently occurring tick-borne diseases are rocky mountain spotted fever (rmsf, also known as spotted fever rickettsiosis), ehrlichiosis, tularemia and anaplasmosis. lyme disease, on the other hand, is not acquired in arkansas and is only acquired by traveling to states where lyme disease is ...	2016	27263175
the role of particular tick developmental stages in the circulation of tick-borne pathogens affecting humans in central europe. 2. tick-borne encephalitis virus.	hard-bodied ticks transmit various pathogens, such as borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, anaplasma phagocytophilum, rickettsia spp., babesia spp., and carry numerous other microorganisms with an unknown pathogenic potential. among them, tick-borne encephalitis virus has great importance. in central european conditions all developmental stages of ticks participate in the zoonotic cycle of the tbe virus. according to pathogen and tick biology, the roles of larvae, nymphs and adults are different. la ...	2016	27262951
serological survey on some pathogens in wild brown hares (lepus europaeus) in central italy.	to determine the exposure of wild brown hares [lepus europaeus (l. europaeus), pallas] to anaplasma phagocytophilum (a. phagocytophilum), borrelia burgdorferi (b. burgdorferi) sensu lato, encephalitozoon cuniculi (e. cuniculi), leishmania sp., neospora caninum (n. caninum) and toxoplasma gondii (t. gondii).	2016	27261855
host-feeding patterns of mosquito species in germany.	mosquito-borne pathogens are of growing importance in many countries of europe including germany. at the same time, the transmission cycles of most mosquito-borne pathogens (e.g. viruses or filarial parasites) are not completely understood. there is especially a lack of knowledge about the vector capacity of the different mosquito species, which is strongly influenced by their host-feeding patterns. while this kind of information is important to identify the relevant vector species, e.g. to dire ...	2016	27259984
nested graft for acral lichen sclerosus of the feet: a surgical treatment for an inflammatory disease.	the "nested graft" is an innovative and well-defined surgical technique used for chronic wound healing that induces the de-senescence of fibroblasts in the wound bed. we report a case of a 76-year-old man affected by plantar chronic wounds because of acral lichen sclerosus and atrophicus localized at both feet and treated for many years successfully with immunosuppressive agents. for cardiological dysfunction, systemic therapy was reduced to low dosage of steroids with an increase of ulcerations ...	2016	27257563
haematologic complications from human babesiosis: a case report.	formerly known as nantucket fever, babesiosis is increasing in incidence across the northeastern united states. because of its emerging health risk globally, it is important to be aware of its various presenting manifestations. we present the case of a middle-aged man with haemolytic anaemia from babesia microti infection.	2015	27257494
invasion of two tick-borne diseases across new england: harnessing human surveillance data to capture underlying ecological invasion processes.	modelling the spatial spread of vector-borne zoonotic pathogens maintained in enzootic transmission cycles remains a major challenge. the best available spatio-temporal data on pathogen spread often take the form of human disease surveillance data. by applying a classic ecological approach-occupancy modelling-to an epidemiological question of disease spread, we used surveillance data to examine the latent ecological invasion of tick-borne pathogens. over the last half-century, previously undescr ...	2016	27252022
dermacentor reticulatus: a vector on the rise.	dermacentor reticulatus is a hard tick species with extraordinary biological features. it has a high reproduction rate, a rapid developmental cycle, and is also able to overcome years of unfavourable conditions. dermacentor reticulatus can survive under water for several months and is cold-hardy even compared to other tick species. it has a wide host range: over 60 different wild and domesticated hosts are known for the three active developmental stages. its high adaptiveness gives an edge to th ...	2016	27251148
a school-based intervention to increase lyme disease preventive measures among elementary school-aged children.	educational interventions to reduce lyme disease (ld) among at-risk school children have had little study. the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a short in-class ld education program based on social learning theory and the health belief model (hbm) impacted a child's knowledge, attitude, and preventive behavior.	2016	27248436
passive surveillance of ixodes scapularis (say), their biting activity, and associated pathogens in massachusetts.	a passive surveillance of tick-borne pathogens was conducted over a 7-year period (2006-2012), in which a total of 3551 ticks were submitted to the university of massachusetts for pcr testing. the vast majority of these ticks were ixodes scapularis from massachusetts (n = 2088) and hence were the focus of further analysis. two taqman duplex qpcr assays were developed to test i. scapularis ticks for the presence of three human pathogens: borrelia burgdorferi, anaplasma phagocytophilum, and babesi ...	2016	27248292
autonomic and peripheral nervous system function in acute tick-borne encephalitis.	tick-borne encephalitis (tbe) is an emerging flaviviral zoonosis in central and eastern europe. tbe can present as meningitis, meningoencephalitis, or meningoencephalomyelitis. dysfunction of the autonomic (ans) and peripheral motoric and sensory nervous system (pns) might contribute to acute and long-term complications. we aimed to examine, whether the ans and pns are affected in acute tbe.	2016	27247855
spatial scale modulates the strength of ecological processes driving disease distributions.	humans are altering the distribution of species by changing the climate and disrupting biotic interactions and dispersal. a fundamental hypothesis in spatial ecology suggests that these effects are scale dependent; biotic interactions should shape distributions at local scales, whereas climate should dominate at regional scales. if so, common single-scale analyses might misestimate the impacts of anthropogenic modifications on biodiversity and the environment. however, large-scale datasets neces ...	2016	27247398
novel detection of coxiella spp., theileria luwenshuni, and t. ovis endosymbionts in deer keds (lipoptena fortisetosa).	we describe for the first time the detection of coxiella-like bacteria (clb), theileria luwenshuni, and t. ovis endosymbionts in blood-sucking deer keds. eight deer keds attached to a korean water deer were identified as lipoptena fortisetosa (diptera: hippoboscidae) by morphological and genetic analyses. among the endosymbionts assessed, clb, theileria luwenshuni, and t. ovis were identified in l. fortisetosa by pcr and nucleotide sequencing. based on phylogeny, clb 16s rrna sequences were clas ...	2016	27244561
mtor regulation of lymphoid cells in immunity to pathogens.	immunity to pathogens exists as a fine balance between promoting activation and expansion of effector cells, while simultaneously limiting normal and aberrant responses. these seemingly opposing functions are kept in check by immune regulators. the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mtor) is a serine/threonine kinase that senses nutrient availability and, in turn, regulates cell metabolism, growth, and survival accordingly. mtor plays a pivotal role in facilitating immune defense against invading ...	2016	27242787
a drug combination screen identifies drugs active against amoxicillin-induced round bodies of in vitro borrelia burgdorferi persisters from an fda drug library.	although currently recommended antibiotics for lyme disease such as doxycycline or amoxicillin cure the majority of the patients, about 10-20% of patients treated for lyme disease may experience lingering symptoms including fatigue, pain, or joint and muscle aches. under experimental stress conditions such as starvation or antibiotic exposure, borrelia burgdorferi can develop round body forms, which are a type of persister bacteria that appear resistant in vitro to customary first-line antibioti ...	2016	27242757
recent advances in microscopic techniques for visualizing leukocytes in vivo.	leukocytes are inherently motile and interactive cells. recent advances in intravital microscopy approaches have enabled a new vista of their behavior within intact tissues in real time. this brief review summarizes the developments enabling the tracking of immune responses in vivo.	2016	27239292
seroprevalence of seven pathogens transmitted by the ixodes ricinus tick in forestry workers in france.	in order to assess the level of occupational exposure to the main pathogens transmitted by the ixodes ricinus tick, a seroprevalence study was performed on serum samples collected in 2003 from 2975 forestry workers of northeastern france. the global seroprevalence estimated for the seven pathogens studied was 14.1% (419/2975) for borrelia burgdorferi sl, 5.7% (164/2908) for francisella tularensis, 2.3% (68/2941) for tick-borne encephalitis virus, 1.7% (50/2908) for anaplasma phagocytophilum and ...	2016	27237545
lyme disease.		1992	27237181
environmental factors influencing tick densities over seven years in a french suburban forest.	worldwide changes in socio-economic and environmental factors and the global climate are recognised causes of variation in tick distribution and density. thus it is of great importance that new studies address the changing risk of infection for exposed populations. in europe, ixodes ricinus ticks are the most common vectors of several pathogens impacting veterinary and public health that have colonised suburban habitats.	2016	27234215
current state of the art for enhancing urine biomarker discovery.	urine is a highly desirable biospecimen for biomarker analysis because it can be collected recurrently by non-invasive techniques, in relatively large volumes. urine contains cellular elements, biochemicals, and proteins derived from glomerular filtration of plasma, renal tubule excretion, and urogenital tract secretions that reflect, at a given time point, an individual's metabolic and pathophysiologic state.	2016	27232439
lichen sclerosus-presentation, diagnosis and management.	lichen sclerosus is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. it is thought to be underdiagnosed and undertreated. if it is not treated, lichen sclerosus is associated with a greater degree of scarring and an elevated risk of cancer in the genital area.	2016	27232363
dna-based identification and ospc serotyping in cultures of borrelia burgdorferi s.l. isolated from ticks collected in the moravia (czech republic).	two different genetic loci, flab and ospc, were employed to assign genospecies and ospc phylogenetic type to 18 strains isolated from ticks collected in pisárky, a suburban park in the city of brno, czech republic. the rflp analysis revealed three different genospecies (b. afzelii, b. garinii, and b. valaisiana). three samples from the collection contained more than one genospecies. in the other 15 strains, nucleotide sequences of flab and ospc were determined. the following phylogenetic analysi ...	2016	27232140
comparison of males versus females with culture-confirmed early lyme disease at presentation and at 11-20 years after diagnosis.	lyme disease is the most common vector-borne infection in the united states with 300,000 estimated cases per year.	2016	27230991
prevalence of the lyme disease spirochete, borrelia burgdorferi, in blacklegged ticks, ixodes scapularis at hamilton-wentworth, ontario.	lyme disease has emerged as a major health concern in canada, where the etiological agent, borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), a spirochetal bacterium, is typically spread by the bite of certain ticks. this study explores the presence of b. burgdorferi s.l. in blacklegged ticks, ixodes scapularis, collected at dundas, ontario (a locality within the region of hamilton-wentworth). using passive surveillance, veterinarians and pet groomers were asked to collect blacklegged ticks from dogs and c ...	2016	27226771
lyme disease awareness.	greater awareness by clinicians and identification of risk groups is needed to ensure treatment of lyme disease.	1989	27223543
detection of borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in amblyomma americanum ticks in the southeastern united states: the case of selective compatibility.		2016	27222323
diagnostic pitfalls in a young romanian ranger with an acute psychotic episode.	the identification and distinction of the pathological conditions underlying acute psychosis are often challenging. we present the case of a 35-year-old ranger who had no history of acute or chronic infectious disease or any previous neuropsychiatric symptoms. he arrived at the psychiatry clinic and was admitted as an emergency case, displaying bizarre behavior, hallucinations, paranoid ideation, and delusional faults. these symptoms had first appeared 7 days earlier. an objective examination re ...	2016	27217753
decrease in tick bite consultations and stabilization of early lyme borreliosis in the netherlands in 2014 after 15 years of continuous increase.	nationwide surveys have shown a threefold increase in general practitioner (gp) consultations for tick bites and early lyme borreliosis from 1994 to 2009 in the netherlands. we now report an update on 2014, with identical methods as for the preceding gp surveys.	2016	27216719
a case of reversible third-degree av block due to lyme carditis.	the most common manifestation of lyme carditis is a varying degree of atrioventricular (av) conduction block. this case describes a 45-year-old male with third-degree av block due to lyme carditis. treatment with intravenous antibiotics resulted in complete normalization of av conduction, thereby averting permanent pacemaker implantation.	2016	27215649
seroprevalence of borrelia burgdorferi in horses presented for coggins testing in southwest virginia and change in positive test results approximately 1 year later.	lyme disease can affect people, dogs, and horses, but it remains poorly understood, especially in the horse. determining the seroprevalence of borrelia burgdorferi in horses in different geographic areas will enable better understanding of the epidemiology of the disease, thus improving diagnosis and treatment of affected animals.	2016	27214745
tocilizumab efficacy in a patient with positive anti-ccp chronic lyme arthritis.	lyme arthritis, a manifestation of tick-borne lyme disease, can prove to be refractory to classic treatment.	2016	27213145
the joint synovium: a critical determinant of articular cartilage fate in inflammatory joint diseases.	the synovium constitutes the envelope of articular joints and is a critical provider of synovial fluid components and articular cartilage nutrients. its inflammation is a predominant feature and cause of joint degeneration in diseases as diverse as rheumatoid, psoriatic, juvenile and idiopathic arthritis, and lupus, gout and lyme disease. these inflammatory joint diseases (ijds) are due to a wide variety of genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors that trigger, promote, and perpetuate joint ...	2017	27212252
quantifying dilution and amplification in a community of hosts for tick-borne pathogens.	recent controversy over whether biodiversity reduces disease risk (dilution effect) has focused on the ecology of lyme disease, a tick-borne zoonosis. a criticism of the dilution effect is that increasing host species richness might amplify disease risk, assuming that total host abundance, and therefore feeding opportunities for ticks, increase with species richness. in contrast, a dilution effect is expected when poor quality hosts for ticks and pathogens (dilution hosts) divert tick blood meal ...	2016	27209790
multilocus sequence typing of pathogenic treponemes isolated from cloven-hoofed animals and comparison to treponemes isolated from humans.	treponema species are implicated in many diseases of humans and animals. digital dermatitis (dd) treponemes are reported to cause severe lesions in cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and wild elk, causing substantial global animal welfare issues and economic losses. the fastidiousness of these spirochetes has previously precluded studies investigating within-phylogroup genetic diversity. an archive of treponemes that we isolated enabled multilocus sequence typing to quantify the diversity and populatio ...	2016	27208135
emergent pacemaker placement in a patient with lyme carditis-induced complete heart block and ventricular asystole.	we report a case of a 31-year-old man who presented to the emergency department after four episodes of syncope within a 24 h time span. he was found to have symptomatic complete heart block associated with episodes of ventricular asystole lasting 5-6 s. he underwent emergent permanent pacemaker insertion during which he was found to have no underlying rhythm. he was later found to have positive serologies for lyme disease despite no known exposure to ticks and neither signs nor symptoms of the d ...	2016	27207985
the borrelia burgdorferi chey3 response regulator is essential for chemotaxis and completion of its natural infection cycle.	borrelia burgdorferi possesses a sophisticated and complex chemotaxis system, but how the organism utilizes this system in its natural enzootic life cycle is poorly understood. of the three chey chemotaxis response regulators in b. burgdorferi, we found that only deletion of chey3 resulted in an altered motility and significantly reduced chemotaxis phenotype. although δchey3 maintained normal densities in unfed ticks, their numbers were significantly reduced in fed ticks compared with the parent ...	2016	27206578
rickettsia parkeri colonization in amblyomma maculatum: the role of superoxide dismutases.	the gulf coast tick (amblyomma maculatum) is an arthropod vector of rickettsia parkeri, the causative agent of american boutonneuse fever and an infectious agent of public health significance. in this study, we evaluated the biological significance of the superoxide dismutases (sods) of a. maculatum in hematophagy and r. parkeri colonization within the tick host.	2016	27206371
idiopathic sensorineural hearing loss in the only hearing ear.	a retrospective chart review was used for 31 patients with sudden, progressive or fluctuating sensorineural hearing loss (shl) in the only hearing ear who had been consecutively evaluated at the ent, audiology and phoniatrics unit of the university of pisa. the group of patients was evaluated with a complete history review, clinical evaluation, imaging exam (mri, ct), audiologic tests (tone and speech audiometry, tympanometry, study of stapedial reflexes, abr and otoacoustic emission) evaluation ...	2016	27196076
characterization of a dna adenine methyltransferase gene of borrelia hermsii and its dispensability for murine infection and persistence.	dna methyltransferases have been implicated in the regulation of virulence genes in a number of pathogens. relapsing fever borrelia species harbor a conserved, putative dna methyltransferase gene on their chromosome, while no such ortholog can be found in the annotated genome of the lyme disease agent, borrelia burgdorferi. in the relapsing fever species borrelia hermsii, the locus bh0463a encodes this putative dna adenine methyltransferase (dam). to verify the function of the bh0463a protein pr ...	2016	27195796
guillain-barré syndrome with hyperreflexia and bilateral papillitis in a child.	guillain-barré syndrome (gbs) is an acute inflammatory polyneuropathy characterized by rapidly progressive symmetric weakness, and areflexia. areflexia is necessary for the diagnosis of gbs. however, recently there have been studies of hyperreflexia with axonal neuropathy form of gbs. we report a 14-year-old boy with gbs, who presented with hyperreflexia and bilateral papillitis. to the best of our knowledge, this is the first pediatric patient presenting with papillitis and hyperreflexia with a ...	2016	27195040
immunoglobulin m for acute infection: true or false?	immunoglobulin m (igm) tests have clear clinical utility but also suffer disproportionately from false-positive results, which in turn can lead to misdiagnoses, inappropriate therapy, and premature closure of a diagnostic workup. despite numerous reports in the literature, many clinicians and laboratorians remain unaware of this issue. in this brief review, a series of virology case examples is presented. however, a false-positive igm can occur with any pathogen. thus, when an accurate diagnosis ...	2016	27193039
[spinal cord stimulation in teenager with complex regional pain syndrome for lymes disease. case report and review of the literature].	lyme disease is an emerging pathology in mexico, producer of painful muscle skeletal either neurotic pain difficult to control. we present the case of a teenager girl who has complex regional pain type ii of pelvic limb secondary to it, where it established a multidisciplinary management that finally was controlled with the placement of a spinal cord stimulator. we consider this as an unusual situation in an adolescent, as well as its evolution by 60 months where the literature only was reported ...	2016	27187001
lyme disease caused by borrelia burgdorferi with two homeologous 16s rrna genes: a case report.	lyme disease (ld), the most common tick-borne disease in north america, is believed to be caused exclusively by borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and is usually diagnosed by clinical evaluation and serologic assays. as reported previously in a peer-reviewed article, a 13-year-old boy living in the northeast of the usa was initially diagnosed with ld based on evaluation of his clinical presentations and on serologic test results. the patient was treated with a course of oral doxycycline for 28 d ...	2016	27186082
dynamic structure of plasma fibronectin.	fibronectin is a large vertebrate glycoprotein that is found in soluble and insoluble forms and involved in diverse processes. protomeric fibronectin is a dimer of subunits, each of which comprises 29-31 modules - 12 type i, two type ii and 15-17 type iii. plasma fibronectin is secreted by hepatocytes and circulates in a compact conformation before it binds to cell surfaces, converts to an extended conformation and is assembled into fibronectin fibrils. here we review biophysical and structural ...	2015	27185500
dynamic structure of plasma fibronectin.	fibronectin is a large vertebrate glycoprotein that is found in soluble and insoluble forms and involved in diverse processes. protomeric fibronectin is a dimer of subunits, each of which comprises 29-31 modules - 12 type i, two type ii and 15-17 type iii. plasma fibronectin is secreted by hepatocytes and circulates in a compact conformation before it binds to cell surfaces, converts to an extended conformation and is assembled into fibronectin fibrils. here we review biophysical and structural ...	2015	27185500
safety and efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implants in the management of macular edema secondary to infectious uveitis.	to assess the safety and efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implants in the treatment of macular edema secondary to infectious uveitis.	2016	27183031
pediatric lyme neuroborreliosis: different clinical presentations of the same agent; single center experience.	lyme disease is a vector-associated infectious disease, caused by the agent, spirochete borrelia burgdorferi. neurologic findings are observed in approximately 12% of the cases and termed lyme neuroborreliosis (lnb). lyme neuroborreliosis may manifest with different clinical neurologic manifestations.	2016	27179572
molecular detection of anaplasma platys, ehrlichia canis, hepatozoon canis and rickettsia monacensis in dogs from maio island of cape verde archipelago.	tick-borne diseases are emerging worldwide and have an important zoonotic relevance. dogs play an important role in the epidemiology of several zoonotic tick-borne pathogens acting as sentinels and/or reservoirs. this study focused on the molecular identification of tick-borne pathogens in blood samples of 153 autochthonous asymptomatic dogs in maio island, cape verde archipelago. eighty-four (54.9%) dogs were positive for one or more pathogens. fifty-five (35.9%) dogs were infected with hepatoz ...	2016	27177475
diversifying forest communities may change lyme disease risk: extra dimension to the dilution effect in europe.	lyme disease is caused by bacteria of the borrelia burgdorferi genospecies complex and transmitted by ixodid ticks. in north america only one pathogenic genospecies occurs, in europe there are several. according to the dilution effect hypothesis (deh), formulated in north america, nymphal infection prevalence (nip) decreases with increasing host diversity since host species differ in transmission potential. we analysed borrelia infection in nymphs from 94 forest stands in belgium, which are part ...	2016	27173094
ceftriaxone-induced immune hemolytic anemia as a life-threatening complication of antibiotic treatment of 'chronic lyme disease'.	'chronic lyme disease' is a controversial condition. as any hard evidence is lacking that unresolved systemic symptoms, following an appropriately diagnosed and treated lyme disease, are related to a chronic infection with the tick-borne spirochaetes of the borrelia genus, the term 'chronic lyme disease' should be avoided and replaced by the term 'post-treatment lyme disease syndrome.' the improper prescription of prolonged antibiotic treatments for these patients can have an impact on the commu ...	2017	27169474
rickettsia helvetica and r. monacensis infections in immature ixodes ricinus ticks derived from sylvatic passerine birds in west-central poland.	the aim of this study was to assess the importance of forest passerine birds in spreading ixodid ticks infected with rickettsiae of spotted fever group (sfg) in sylvatic habitats in western poland. in total, 834 immature ixodes ricinus ticks were found on 64 birds of 11 species which were captured during the tick-questing season between may and september of 2006. ground-foraging passerines hosted most of the ticks compared with arboreal species, and therefore, only the former group was included ...	2016	27164834
editorial commentary: neuroborreliosis: what is it, what isn't it?		2016	27161776
course and outcome of early european lyme neuroborreliosis (bannwarth syndrome): clinical and laboratory findings.	information on the course and outcome of early european lyme neuroborreliosis is limited.	2016	27161773
treponema pallidum lipoprotein tp0435 expressed in borrelia burgdorferi produces multiple surface/periplasmic isoforms and mediates adherence.	the ability of treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete to colonize various tissues requires the presence of surface-exposed adhesins that have been difficult to identify due to the inability to culture and genetically manipulate t. pallidum. using a borrelia burgdorferi-based heterologous system and gain-in-function approach, we show for the first time that a highly immunogenic lipoprotein tp0435 can be differentially processed into multiple isoforms with one variant stochastically displayed ...	2016	27161310
bartonella spp. - a chance to establish one health concepts in veterinary and human medicine.	infectious diseases remain a remarkable health threat for humans and animals. in the past, the epidemiology, etiology and pathology of infectious agents affecting humans and animals have mostly been investigated in separate studies. however, it is evident, that combined approaches are needed to understand geographical distribution, transmission and infection biology of "zoonotic agents". the genus bartonella represents a congenial example of the synergistic benefits that can arise from such comb ...	2016	27161111
molecular detection of tick-borne bacteria and protozoa in cervids and wild boars from portugal.	wildlife can act as reservoir of different tick-borne pathogens, such as bacteria, parasites and viruses. the aim of the present study was to assess the presence of tick-borne bacteria and protozoa with veterinary and zoonotic importance in cervids and wild boars from the centre and south of portugal.	2016	27160767
seroprevalence of vector-borne pathogens and molecular detection of borrelia afzelii in military dogs from portugal.	canine vector-borne diseases (cvbds) are increasingly being reported worldwide and represent a serious threat to both animal and public health. military dogs may constitute a risk group for the agents causing these diseases, as they frequently work outdoors in different areas and are thus exposed to vector arthropods. in order to assess the risk of exposure of this type of dogs, a serological and molecular survey was conducted in military working dogs in portugal. one hundred apparently healthy ...	2016	27160284
false positive lyme disease igm immunoblots in children.	in our cross-sectional sample of 7289 serologic tests for lyme disease, we identified 167 instances of a positive igm immunoblot but a negative igg immunoblot test result. considering that only 71% (95% ci 64%-78%) of patients had lyme disease, a positive igm immunoblot alone should be interpreted with caution to avoid over-diagnosis of lyme disease.	2016	27157898
the heat is on: killing blacklegged ticks in residential washers and dryers to prevent tickborne diseases.	reducing exposure to ticks can help prevent lyme disease and other tickborne diseases. although it is currently recommended to dry clothes on high heat for one hour to kill ticks on clothing after spending time outdoors, this recommendation is based on a single published study of tick survival under various washing conditions and a predetermined one-hour drying time. we conducted a series of tests to investigate the effects of temperature, humidity, and drying time on killing nymphal and adult b ...	2016	27156138
disease vectors in the era of next generation sequencing.	almost 20 % of all infectious human diseases are vector borne and, together, are responsible for over one million deaths per annum. over the past decade, the decreasing costs of massively parallel sequencing technologies have facilitated the agnostic interrogation of insect vector genomes, giving medical entomologists access to an ever-expanding volume of high-quality genomic and transcriptomic data. in this review, we highlight how genomics resources have provided new insights into the physiolo ...	2016	27154554
independent evolution of six families of halogenating enzymes.	halogenated natural products are widespread in the environment, and the halogen atoms are typically vital to their bioactivities. thus far, six families of halogenating enzymes have been identified: cofactor-free haloperoxidases (hpo), vanadium-dependent haloperoxidases (v-hpo), heme iron-dependent haloperoxidases (hi-hpo), non-heme iron-dependent halogenases (ni-hg), flavin-dependent halogenases (f-hg), and s-adenosyl-l-methionine (sam)-dependent halogenases (s-hg). however, these halogenating ...	2016	27153321
an immunosuppressant peptide from the hard tick amblyomma variegatum.	ixodid ticks are well known for spreading transmitted tick-borne pathogens while being attached to their hosts for almost 1-2 weeks to obtain blood meals. thus, they must secrete many immunosuppressant factors to combat the hosts' immune system. in the present work, we investigated an immunosuppressant peptide of the hard tick amblyomma variegatum. this peptide, named amregulin, is composed of 40 residues with an amino acid sequence of hlhmhgngatqvfkprlvlkcpnaaqliqpgklqrqlllq. a cdna of the prec ...	2016	27153086
outcome based on treatment protocol in patients with primary canine immune-mediated thrombocytopenia: 46 cases (2000-2013).	this study investigated the relationship between treatment protocol, survival to discharge, and relapse in 46 dogs diagnosed with primary immune-mediated thrombocytopenia (itp) at the western college of veterinary medicine between 2000 and 2013. treatment was at the discretion of the attending clinician and consisted of either a corticosteroid alone or a corticosteroid plus a secondary therapy. there was no association between survival to discharge and treatment protocol (p = 0.23). of the survi ...	2016	27152040
features and outcome of a glomerulonephropathy associated with ligneous conjunctivitis in a doberman pinscher dog.	this report describes a 3-year-old female doberman pinscher dog with ligneous conjunctivitis and a protein-losing nephropathy not associated with underlying plasminogen deficiency. glomerulonephropathy in this circumstance had a positive outcome.	2016	27152037
human pathogens associated with the blacklegged tick ixodes scapularis: a systematic review.	the blacklegged tick ixodes scapularis transmits borrelia burgdorferi (sensu stricto) in eastern north america; however, the agent of lyme disease is not the sole pathogen harbored by the blacklegged tick. the blacklegged tick is expanding its range into areas of southern canada such as ontario, an area where exposure to blacklegged tick bites and tick-borne pathogens is increasing. we performed a systematic review to evaluate the public health risks posed by expanding blacklegged tick populatio ...	2016	27151067
treatment of lyme disease.		2016	27148921
understanding neuropsychiatric diseases, analyzing the peptide sharing between infectious agents and the language-associated nmda 2a protein.	language disorders and infections may occur together and often concur, to a different extent and via different modalities, in characterizing brain pathologies, such as schizophrenia, autism, epilepsies, bipolar disorders, frontotemporal neurodegeneration, and encephalitis, inter alia. the biological mechanism(s) that might channel language dysfunctions and infections into etiological pathways connected to neuropathologic sequelae are unclear. searching for molecular link(s) between language diso ...	2016	27148089
when in doubt, examine the patient: commentary on an article by keith d. baldwin, md, mspt, mph, et al.: "predictive factors for differentiating between septic arthritis and lyme disease of the knee in children".		2016	27147695
predictive factors for differentiating between septic arthritis and lyme disease of the knee in children.	differentiating between septic arthritis and lyme disease of the knee in endemic areas can be challenging and has major implications for patient management. the purpose of this study was to identify a prediction rule to differentiate septic arthritis from lyme disease in children presenting with knee pain and effusion.	2016	27147684
interaction of the lyme disease spirochete with its tick vector.	borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of lyme disease (along with closely related genospecies), is in the deeply branching spirochete phylum. the bacterium is maintained in nature in an enzootic cycle that involves transmission from a tick vector to a vertebrate host and acquisition from a vertebrate host to a tick vector. during its arthropod sojourn, b. burgdorferi faces a variety of stresses, including nutrient deprivation. here, we review some of the spirochetal factors that promote pers ...	2016	27147446
tick repellents and acaricides of botanical origin: a green roadmap to control tick-borne diseases?	arthropods are dangerous vectors of agents of deadly diseases, which may hit as epidemics or pandemics in the increasing world population of humans and animals. among them, ticks transmit more pathogen species than any other group of blood-feeding arthropods worldwide. thus, the effective and eco-friendly control of tick vectors in a constantly changing environment is a crucial challenge. a number of novel routes have been attempted to prevent and control tick-borne diseases, including the devel ...	2016	27146901
efficacy and safety of pharmacological agents in the treatment of erythema migrans in early lyme borreliosis-systematic review protocol.	erythema migrans represents an early cutaneous and most common manifestation of lyme borreliosis. recommendations regarding pharmacological agents, dose and duration of treatment are subject of intense debate. this review aims to explore differences in efficacy and safety between pharmacological treatments and control treatment.	2016	27142846
evidence of in vivo existence of borrelia biofilm in borrelial lymphocytomas.	lyme borreliosis, caused by the spirochete borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, has grown into a major public health problem. we recently identified a novel morphological form of b. burgdorferi, called biofilm, a structure that is well known to be highly resistant to antibiotics. however, there is no evidence of the existence of borrelia biofilm in vivo; therefore, the main goal of this study was to determine the presence of borrelia biofilm in infected human skin tissues. archived skin biopsy tissu ...	2016	27141311
pleomorphic forms of borrelia burgdorferi induce distinct immune responses.	borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of tick-borne lyme disease. as a response to environmental stress b. burgdorferi can change its morphology to a round body form. the role of b. burgdorferi pleomorphic forms in lyme disease pathogenesis has long been debated and unclear. here, we demonstrated that round bodies were processed differently in differentiated macrophages, consequently inducing distinct immune responses compared to spirochetes in vitro. colocalization analysis indicated that ...	2016	27139815
lyme disease in poland in 2013.	lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease, caused by spirochetes of the borrelia genus transmitted by ticks of the ixodes genus. infection caused by borrelia burgdorferi occur throughout poland and therefore, according also to ecdc description, the whole country should be considered as endemic area.	2015	27139358
chemokine cxcl13 concentration in cerebrospinal fluid in patients with neuroborreliosis--own observations.	of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of cerebrospinal fluid chemokine cxcl13 concentration assay in diagnostics of neuroborreliosis in adults.	2015	27139348
diagnosis of lyme disease in the pediatric acute care setting.	we review the current evidence concerning the diagnosis of lyme disease in children for application in the acute care setting.	2016	27138805
lyme disease.	this issue provides a clinical overview of lyme disease, focusing on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and practice improvement. the content of in the clinic is drawn from the clinical information and education resources of the american college of physicians (acp), including mksap (medical knowledge and self-assessment program). annals of internal medicine editors develop in the clinic in collaboration with the acp's medical education and publishing divisions and with the assistance of additiona ...	2016	27136224
the borrelia burgdorferi telomere resolvase, rest, anneals ssdna complexed with its cognate ssdna-binding protein.	spirochetes of the genus borrelia possess unusual genomes that consist in a linear chromosome and multiple linear and circular plasmids. the linear replicons are terminated by covalently closed hairpin ends, referred to as hairpin telomeres. the hairpin telomeres represent a simple solution to the end-replication problem. deoxyribonucleic acid replication initiates internally and proceeds bidirectionally toward the hairpin telomeres. the telomere resolvase, rest, forms the hairpin telomeres from ...	2016	27131360
erratum to: revisited: borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato infections in hard ticks (ixodes ricinus) in the city of hanover (germany).		2016	27129707
encephalopathy associated with autoimmune thyroid disease: a potentially reversible condition.	autoimmune thyroid disease may occasionally associate with unspecific neurological symptoms, which are more commonly insidious, include cognitive or behavioural symptoms, and may associate with tremor, myoclonus, or ataxia. we report a 61-year-old female patient who presented with chronic headache, insidious mood, and cognitive disturbance which evolved in a few months to dementia associated with exuberant limb myoclonus. diagnostic workup revealed high anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody titers an ...	2016	27127515
imbalanced presence of borrelia burgdorferi s.l. multilocus sequence types in clinical manifestations of lyme borreliosis.	in this study we used typing based on the eight multilocus sequence typing scheme housekeeping genes (mlst) and 5s-23s rdna intergenic spacer (igs) to explore the population structure of borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato isolates from patients with lyme borreliosis (lb) and to test the association between the b. burgdorferi s.l. sequence types (st) and the clinical manifestations they cause in humans. isolates of b. burgdorferi from 183 lb cases across europe, with distinct clinical manifestations ...	2016	27125686
toll-like receptor 1/2 and 5 ligands enhance the expression of cyclin d1 and d3 and induce proliferation in mantle cell lymphoma.	mantle cell lymphoma (mcl) is an aggressive b-cell non-hodgkin's lymphoma with a still undefined etiology. several lines of evidence are consistent with the possible involvement of peculiar microenvironmental stimuli sustaining tumor cell growth and survival, as the activation of toll-like receptors (tlr) 4 and 9. however, little is known about the contribution of other tlrs of pathogenic relevance in the development of mcl. this study reports evidence that mcl cell lines and primary mcl cells e ...	2016	27123851
prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in host-seeking amblyomma americanum (acari: ixodidae) and odocoileus virginianus (artiodactyla: cervidae) in florida.	amblyomma americanum (l.), the lone star tick, is an aggressive tick that is expanding its geographic range within the united states. this tick is the vector for the human and veterinary pathogens ehrlichia chaffeensis and ehrlichia ewingii and is associated with other microbes of unspecified pathogenicity including rickettsia amblyommii, panola mountain ehrlichia, and borrelia lonestari in florida, there has been sparse contemporary data on the prevalence of these organisms in host-seeking lone ...	2016	27117680
lyme disease serology.		2016	27115380
diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, and babesiosis: a review.	lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis (hga), and babesiosis are emerging tick-borne infections.	2016	27115378
erratum for stromdahl et al., borrelia burgdorferi not confirmed in human-biting amblyomma americanum ticks from the southeastern united states.		2016	27114565
pilz domain protein flgz mediates cyclic di-gmp-dependent swarming motility control in pseudomonas aeruginosa.	the second messenger cyclic diguanylate (c-di-gmp) is an important regulator of motility in many bacterial species. in pseudomonas aeruginosa, elevated levels of c-di-gmp promote biofilm formation and repress flagellum-driven swarming motility. the rotation of p. aeruginosa's polar flagellum is controlled by two distinct stator complexes, motab, which cannot support swarming motility, and motcd, which promotes swarming motility. here we show that when c-di-gmp levels are elevated, swarming motil ...	2016	27114465
ocular lyme borreliosis as a rare presentation of unilateral vision loss.	ocular lyme borreliosis is a rare manifestation of lyme disease. we describe a case of an 80-year-old woman who presented with a 1-month history of unilateral painless central vision loss. based on a temporal artery biopsy, she was initially diagnosed with giant cell arteritis and treated with a 3-day course of high-dose intravenous steroids. a more detailed history uncovered multiple previous treatments for lyme disease and residence in an endemic lyme area. the patient was subsequently diagnos ...	2016	27113793