Borrelia burgdorferi

spirochetes (corkscrew-shaped bacteria), including primarily Borrelia burgdorferi in the United States, which B. mayonii being a much less frequent cause of the disease there. B. afzelii and B. garinii are the primary causes of infection in Europe and Asia. The spirochetes are transmitted to the human bloodstream by the bite…

…others) and Lyme disease (B. burgdorferi) in humans. Spirochaeta are free-living nonpathogenic inhabitants of mud and water, typically thriving in anaerobic (oxygen-deprived) environments. Leptospirosis, caused by Leptospira, is principally a disease of domestic and wild mammals and is a secondary infection