Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 58, 184-186, 2005
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Short Communication
Molecular Evidence of the Dispersal of Lyme Disease Borrelia from the Asian Continent to Japan via Migratory Birds
Fubito Ishiguro*, Nobuhiro Takada1 and Toshiyuki Masuzawa2
Fukui Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Fukui 910-8551, 1Department of Pathological Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Fukui, Fukui 910-1193 and 2Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka 422-8526, Japan
(Received January 21, 2005. Accepted March 16, 2005)
*Corresponding author: Mailing address: Fukui Prefectural Institute
of Public Health and Environmental Science, Haramecho 39-4, Fukui
910-8551, Japan. Tel: +81-776-54-5630, Fax: +81-776-52-6109, E-mail:
ishigurofubito@fklab.fukui.fukui.jp
SUMMARY: Based on specific sequencing, we found that
a Borrelia garinii strain from a rodent in Fukui Prefecture,
Japan was highly similar to the unique Borrelia strains
(pattern R'/R) isolated in northeastern China and Korea, and to
strains from ticks feeding on migratory birds in Fukui Prefecture.
These findings indicate that the Borrelia with this unique
pattern may be locally naturalized to the epizootic transmission
cycle in Japan, and that Borrelia is dispersed from the
Asian Continent to Japan via migratory birds.