Borrelia Burgdorferi Essay -- Medical Health Biology Essays

Borrelia BurgdorferiLife HistoryLyme disease is an transmitting caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a spirochete that is found in deer ticks of genus Ixodes. Lyme disease was named in 1977 later arthritis was observed in clusters in children in Lyme, Connecticut. An infected tick can transmit B. burgdorferi to the humans and animals that it bites. If left untreated, the B. burgdorferi can cause a systemic infection by traveling through the bloodstream and establishing itself in various body tissues. Lyme disease is most prevalently found in north-eastern United States. Microbial Characteristics and VirulenceBorrelia burgdorferi is not classified as either Gram-positive or Gram-negative. When B. burgdorferi is Gram-stained, the cells stain a weak Gram-negative by default, as safrin is the last dye used. B. burgdorferi has an outer tissue layer that contains an LPS-like substance, an inner membrane, and a periplasmic space which contains a layer of peptidoglycan. They have endoflold agel la which are contained within the periplasmic space. It can be cultivated on a modified Kelly medium called BSK (Barbour-Stoenner-Kelly). BSK solidified with 1.3% agarose allows the production of colonies from single organisms. The spirochete grows more slowly than most other bacteria dividing once after 12-24 hours. B. burgdorferi resembles other spirochetes in that it is a super specialized, motile, two-membrane, spiral-shaped bacteria which lives primarily as an extracellular pathogen. One of the most striking features of B. burgdorferi as compared with other eubacteria is its unusual genome, which includes a linear chromosome approximately wholeness megabase in size and numerous linear and circular plasmids. Long-term culture of B. burgdorferi re... ..., Pennsylvania, Delaware Maryland, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin. Lyme disease accounts for approximately 16,000 infections in the United States per year. Since 1982 there have been over 145,000 cases inform to health authorit ies in the US. Lyme disease accounts for 95% of vector borne illness and the incidence rate is 5 per 100,000 although this number may be less than dead on target cases due to underreporting. People of all ages and both genders are equally susceptible, although highest attack rates are in children ages 0-14 years and in persons 30 years of age or older.Sources Citedhttp//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/index.htmhttp//www.aldf.com/Lyme.aspPARA1http//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/bburgdorferi.htmhttp//www.aldf.com/Lyme_TreatmentTable.htmlhttp//www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/epi.htmhttp//www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic588.htm