Borrelia News and Research

RSS

Long-term study outlines unexpected findings about tick populations

Tick-borne diseases are on the rise in the United States. Lyme disease is the most commonly reported, with nearly half a million people diagnosed each year.

17 Aug 2026

New study focuses on starving bacteria to prevent Lyme disease

Triggered by a near painless tick bite, Lyme disease causes severe pain and inflammation for more than 475,000 people in the U.S annually, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

13 Aug 2026

New strip test provides rapid screening for canine Lyme disease

Announcing a new article publication for Zoonoses journal. This study was aimed at developing and preliminarily validating a colloidal gold immunochromatographic lateral flow (ICLF) strip for rapid serological screening of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in canine serum.

28 Jul 2026

Anti-lipid antibodies could improve early testing for Lyme disease

Lyme disease can be easiest to treat in its earliest stages, but current tests often miss infections during that critical window and cannot tell whether bacteria are still present or were cleared years ago.

6 Jul 2026

UTSA researchers develop bait pellets to combat Lyme disease

A breakthrough in the fight against Lyme disease is moving from the laboratory to the hardware store.

30 Jun 2026

New anti-lipid antibodies could improve diagnosis of Lyme disease

30 Jun 2026

Key proteins enable louse-borne relapsing fever pathogen to evade immunity

Louse-borne relapsing fever is caused by the spirochete bacterium Borrelia recurrentis, which is transmitted by body lice (not head lice).

10 Jun 2026

Identifying the methodology gap that prevents treatment of infection-triggered chronic diseases

Thousands of Americans develop chronic persistent symptoms-such as fatigue, cognitive difficulties ("brain fog"), and other debilitating issues-each year following acute infections from Lyme disease, COVID-19, and other pathogens. Efforts to identify causes and produce treatments have failed. However, 16 leading researchers think they know part of the problem: study design.

14 May 2026

New AI models quickly find compounds that target Lyme bacteria

Tufts University researchers are using AI and machine learning to more quickly identify potential narrow-spectrum antibiotics to prevent and treat Lyme disease, thanks to a generous gift from an alumnus that sped up their timeline by two to three years.

28 Apr 2026

New monoclonal antibody shows promise for preventing Lyme disease

A Phase I clinical trial of a human monoclonal antibody discovered and developed at UMass Chan Medical School for the prevention of Lyme disease in the U.S. was well tolerated and showed lasting serum concentrations in participants, according to data presented by Mark Klempner, MD, at the World Vaccine Congress 2026 in Washington D.C.

8 Apr 2026

No evidence connects tick bites to chronic health problems

When researchers studied Norwegians who thought tick bites caused their chronic health problems, they found no objective evidence linking the symptoms to ticks.

25 Feb 2026

Ohio faces Lyme disease risk comparable to endemic regions

The risk for being bitten by a tick infected with bacteria that cause Lyme disease is as high in Ohio as it is for those living in Northeast states that have dealt with Lyme disease for over 50 years, according to a new study.

3 Feb 2026

How tick saliva reprograms the skin’s immune defenses

A research team led by the Medical University of Vienna has gained new insights into how ticks influence the human immune system in order to introduce pathogens.

2 Dec 2025

Innovative test for Lyme disease offers hope for faster diagnosis

Researchers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center have developed a way to diagnose Lyme disease earlier and more accurately than traditional testing methods.

14 Nov 2025

Scientists discover hidden weakness in Lyme disease bacterium

For decades, Lyme disease has frustrated both physicians and patients alike. Caused by the corkscrew-shaped bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, the infection, if left untreated, can linger for months, leading to fever, fatigue and painful inflammation.

13 Nov 2025

Ancient DNA uncovers paratyphoid and relapsing fever among Napoleonic troops

Scientists from the Institut Pasteur have genetically analyzed the remains of former soldiers who retreated from Russia in 1812.

24 Oct 2025

Study reveals large differences in knowledge about ticks between countries

Ticks are found all over the world. There are more than 900 species, and many of them pass on dangerous diseases to both humans and animals.

9 Oct 2025

Researchers uncover how bacteria hijack tick cells to survive and spread

Washington State University researchers have discovered how the bacteria that cause anaplasmosis and Lyme disease hijack cellular processes in ticks to ensure their survival and spread to new hosts, including humans.

1 Jul 2025

Ancient DNA sheds light on evolution of relapsing fever bacteria

Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and UCL have analyzed ancient DNA from Borrelia recurrentis, a type of bacteria that causes relapsing fever, pinpointing when it evolved to spread through lice rather than ticks, and how it gained and lost genes in the process.

22 May 2025

New antibiotic offers hope for more effective Lyme disease treatment

Lyme disease, a disease transmitted when deer ticks feed on infected animals like deer and rodents, and then bite humans, impacts nearly half a million individuals in the U.S. annually.

24 Apr 2025