Excerpt:

Lyme disease (borreliosis) is an infectious disease caused by the Borrelia
spirochaetes, usually transmitted to humans by the Ixodes ticks. It is
manifested by a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms varying according to the
time elapsed from the infection. The paper describes orofacial symptoms of
the disease in a woman who has suffered from a chronic borreliosis for 3
years.
Multiorgan clinical manifestations of borreliosis might occur in the
masticatory organ and this fact should be taken into consideration in the
differential diagnosis of pain by medical and dental practitioners.

Lyme arthritis in dogs can be induced under experimental and
natural conditions.
However, the veterinary relevance of canine borreliosis is still
under extensive investigation. The prevalence of symptoms is
clearly low although the risk of tick exposure is high. Current
research focuses on case definitions, methods for diagnosing
clinical disease in dogs, and discrimination between an immune
response to a natural infection versus vaccination.
In this experimental study,
23 dogs raised under tick-free conditions were allocated to two
groups: 11 dogs were vaccinated with a commercial borrelia
vaccine and subsequently developed detectable antibody titers; 12
were walked in a tick-endemic area on two consecutive days. On
day five after exposure engorged ticks were removed from the 12
dogs and analyzed for Borrelia DNA in real-time PCR assay. Blood
samples were taken before exposure/vaccination and at defined
time points thereafter.

June 17, 2010 — Concern that a new human gamma-retrovirus may be transmissible through blood has led one infectious diseases specialist to recommend new steps to protect the US blood supply against possible infection with the virus.

The transfusion medicine organization AABB has formed a task force to study the transmission potential of xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV), which has been linked to familial prostate cancer and, more recently, to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

Excerpt:

Lyme disease is a multisystem infectious disease with a wide
variety of symptoms involving the skin as well as the nervous
system. Lyme disease is caused by spirochaete Borrelia
burgdorferi transmitted by Ixodes ticks in endemic regions.
A case of 45 year old woman suffering from borreliosis, psoriasis
and depression is presented in the paper. In the study a
standardized screening list was applied to evaluate the
psychiatric health state–Classification of Psychic Disorders
(DSM-IV) and Hamilton Scale. Patient was diagnosed with a major
depressive episode (MDE) according to DSM-IV Diagnosis Criteria.
Patient obtained a score 21 on the 24-item in Hamilton Rating
Scale of Depression.

J Vet Emerg Crit Care (San Antonio). 2010 Feb 1;20(1):8-30.

Bartonellosis: an emerging infectious disease of zoonotic
importance to animals and human beings.

Breitschwerdt EB, Maggi RG, Chomel BB, Lappin MR.

Department of Clinical Sciences, Center for Comparative Medicine
and Translational Research, College of Veterinary Medicine, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Objective- To provide a review of clinically relevant
observations related to Bartonella species as emerging pathogens
in veterinary and human medicine. Data
Sources- Literature as cited in PubMed and as generated by each
of the authors who have contributed to various aspects of the
clinical understanding of bartonellosis. Human Data Synthesis-
Important historical and recent publications illustrating the
evolving role of animal reservoirs as a source of human
infection. Veterinary Data Synthesis- Comprehensive review of the
veterinary literature.

Conclusions- In addition to inducing life-threatening illnesses,
such as endocarditis, myocarditis, and meningoencephalitis and
contributing to chronic debilitating disease, such as arthritis,
osteomyelitis, and granulomatous inflammation in cats, dogs, and
potentially other animal species; pets and wildlife species can
serve as persistently infected reservoir hosts for the
transmission of Bartonella spp. infection to veterinary
professionals and others with direct animal contact.

http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pu
bmed&id=20230432&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 20230432  [PubMed – in process]

Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is the causative agent
of Lyme borreliosis in humans. This inflammatory disease can
affect the skin, the peripheral and central nervous system, the
musculoskeletal and cardiovascular system and rarely the eyes.
Early stages are directly associated with viable bacteria at the
site of inflammation. The pathogen-host interaction is complex
and has been elucidated only in part. B. burgdorferi is highly
susceptible to antibiotic treatment and the majority of patients
profit from this treatment

Known or suspected mechanisms of persistence in babesial parasites include cytoadhesion and rapid
variation of the adhesive ligand in Babesia bovis and genetic diversity in
several merozoite stage proteins of different Babesia spp. In Anaplasma,
extensive variation in the pfam01617 gene family accompanies cycling of organism
levels in chronic infection. One result from the pioneering research at
Onderstepoort is the definition of a related polymorphic gene family that is
likely involved in immunity against heartwater disease. We are beginning to
understand the sizes of the antigenic repertoires and full definition is close,
with the possibility of applying simultaneous high-throughput sequencing to the
order of 1000 small genomes. We also, for the first time, can consider modifying
these genomes and looking at effects on persistence and virulence. However,
important biological questions remain unanswered; for example, why we are seeing
a new emerging Anaplasma infection of humans and is infection of endothelial
cells by Anaplasma significant to persistence in vivo.

http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=19967928&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 19967928  [PubMed – in process]

Onderstepoort J Vet Res. 2009 Mar;76(1):53-8.

Persistence mechanisms in tick-borne diseases.

Barbet AF.

Department of Infectious Diseases & Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine,
University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.

The effectiveness of a new first in class antibiotic, tigecycline
(glycylcycline), was evaluated during the early dissemination (1 week), early
immune (3 weeks), or late persistent (4 months) phases of Borrelia burgdorferi
infection in C3H mice. Mice were treated with high or low doses of tigecycline,
saline (negative-effect controls), or a previously published regimen of
ceftriaxone (positive-effect controls). Infection status was assessed at 3
months after treatment by culture, quantitative ospA real-time PCR, and
subcutaneous transplantation of joint and heart tissue into SCID mice. Tissues
from all saline-treated mice were culture- and ospA PCR-positive; tissues from
all antibiotic-treated mice were culture-negative; and some of the tissues from
most of the mice treated with antibiotics were ospA PCR-positive, although the
DNA marker load was markedly decreased compared to saline-treated mice.
Antibiotic treatment during the early stage of infection appeared to be more
effective than treatment that began during later stages of infection. The
viability of non-cultivable spirochetes in antibiotic-treated mice (demonstrable
by PCR) was confirmed by transplantation of tissue allografts from treated mice
into SCID mice, with dissemination of spirochetal DNA to multiple recipient
tissues, and by xenodiagnosis, including acquisition by ticks, transmission by
ticks to SCID mice, and survival through molting into nymphs and then into
adults. Furthermore, PCR-positive heart base tissue from antibiotic-treated mice
revealed RNA transcription of several B. burgdorferi genes. Results extended
previous studies with ceftriaxone, indicating that antibiotic treatment is
unable to clear persisting spirochetes, which remain viable and infectious, but
are non- or slowly dividing.

http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=19995919&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks
PMID: 19995919  [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2009 Dec 7; [Epub ahead of print]

Ineffectiveness of Tigecycline Against Persistent Borrelia burgdorferi.

Barthold SW, Hodzic E, Imai DM, Feng S, Yang X, Luft BJ.

Center for Comparative Medicine, Schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine,
University of California at Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616;
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, State University of New
York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, New York 11794.