ROCHESTER, Minn.–A second bacteria has been found to cause Lyme disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Along with the Mayo Clinic, researchers determined that Borrelia mayonii can cause Lyme disease much in the same way that the traditional Borrelia burgdorferi does. Both bacteria come from deer ticks, and are transmitted to humans through a bite.
The discovery came after six people who doctors thought had Lyme disease showed unusual results on lab tests. They were the only ones out of 9,000 samples examined between 2012 and 2014 to exhibit the different bacteria.
“This discovery adds another important piece of information to the complex picture of tick-borne diseases in the United States,” said Dr. Jeannine Petersen, a microbiologist at the CDC.
However, those with Borrelia mayonii will test positive for Lyme disease as well.
The disease brought on by both forms of bacteria presents similar symptoms: fever, headache, rash and neck pain, followed by arthritis later on. However, the new strain also causes nausea, vomiting, more rashes and a higher concentration of bacteria in the blood.
So far, it is believed that the new strain is only in the Midwest. The strain has been found in ticks in two counties in northwestern Wisconsin. No cases of the illness have been detected in the Northeast.
