Lyme disease: review and update of a potentially emerging zoonosis in South America

C.A. Tuemmers Apablaza; M.A. Montero González

doi:10.30972/vet.3527876

Authors

C.A. Tuemmers Apablaza Veterinary Science and Public Health Department, Natural Resources Faculty, Catholic University of Temuco https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9723-086X
M.A. Montero González Veterinary Science and Public Health Department, Natural Resources Faculty, Catholic University of Temuco https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9723-086X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30972/vet.3527876

Keywords:

Zoonoses, Ixodes, Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi

Abstract

Lyme disease is a multisystemic inflammatory disease caused by spirochetes belonging to the geno-specific complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl). It is transmitted to humans through ticks of the genus Ixodes, being Ixodes scapularis responsible for the transmission in most of the cases reported worldwide. Manifests with cutaneous, cardiac, neurological, and articular manifestations, with the cutaneous condition known as chronic migratory erythema being the most important antecedent for the clinical diagnosis of the disease, confirming it with complementary tests such as ELISA, Western blot and PCR. This information will be crucial to initiate appropriate treatment for each phase of the disease. Although, this disease is observed mainly in North America and Europe, recently new strains of Bbsl, or related species, have been described in Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Still, in order to determine the distribution of this species in South America, it is necessary to conduct genetic and microbiological studies not only to clinical cases but also vectors and possible reservoirs, in order to obtain useful information for the epidemiological and clinical management of the disease.

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