Novel spirochetes isolated from mosquitoes and black flies

Full article: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20618647&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

During the years 1999-2002, a total of 4,898 individuals of 26
species of hematophagous insects (4,149 mosquitoes, 583 black
flies, and 166 tabanid flies) was examined for the presence of
spirochetes using dark-field microscopy. There was an overall
recovery of spirochetes from the midguts of Culicidae and
Simuliidae of 23.5% and 11.4%, respectively. Spirochetes were not
detected in Tabanidae. Seven spirochetal strains have been
successfully recovered from mosquitoes and black flies: BR149
(Culex pipiens), BR151 (Cx. pipiens), BR173 (Cx. pipiens), BR177
(Cx. pipiens), BR193 (Aedes cinereus), BR208 (Cx. pipiens), and
BR231 (Simulium noelleri). The strains have been adapted to
laboratory conditions (BSK-H Complete medium). Their preliminary
determination based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing has shown that
they differ from the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi
sensu lato as well as other members of the Order Spirochaetales
indicating novel bacterial species in the Family Spirochaetaceae.