Authors: Tom G. Schwan, Jennifer M. Anderson, Job E. Lopez, Robert J. Fischer, Sandra J. Raffel, Brandi N. McCoy, David Safronetz, Nafomon Sogoba, Ousmane Maรฏga, Sรฉkou F. Traorรฉ
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001924
Abstract Summary
Researchers found endemic foci of tick-borne relapsing fever across southern Mali, with 11% of rodents and 14% of shrews showing antibodies to Borrelia crocidurae spirochetes. In Bandiagara region, 35% of animals were seropositive and 17% of Ornithodoros ticks carried the pathogen. These findings reveal significant human infection risk in areas where malaria is common and clinical confusion between diseases likely.
Why Brain? ๐ง
Study identifies widespread tick-borne relapsing fever risk across Mali, where infection is often misdiagnosed as malaria. High rates of infected rodents and ticks found, especially in Bandiagara region.
License: CC0 (Public Domain).
The image is AI-generated for illustrative purposes only. Courtesy of Midjourney.
