Louse-Borne Relapsing Fever (Borrelia recurrentis) in a Somali Refugee Arriving in Italy: A Re-emerging Infection in Europe?

Spinello Antinori , Oleg Mediannikov (1) , Mario Corbellino , Romualdo Grande , Carlo Parravicini , Giovanna Bestetti , Erika Longhi , Davide Ricaboni , Cyrille Bile Ehounoud (2) , Florence Fenollar (1) , Didier Raoult (1) , Sara Giordana Rimoldi

1 URMITE - Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes
2 URMITE - Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses Tropicales Emergentes

Introduction Louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) is an acute febrile infection that is typically characterized by one to three fairly regular waves of bacteremia [1,2]. It is caused by Borrelia recurrentis, a motile spirochete that measures 5 to 40 μm in length. The microorganism is transmitted from person to person by the human body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus). Disruptions in sanitation during wartime and mass migrations of people provide conditions that favor the propagation of body lice and thus the occurrence of outbreaks of the disease [1,3]. LBRF is endemic in East Africa (e.g., Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan) with the highest number of cases observed in Ethiopia, where it is the seventh most common cause of hospital admission and the fifth most common cause of death [4,5]. We report here the first case of imported LBRF observed in Lombardy (northern Italy) in a Somali refugee.

Mots clés: Borrelia; Borrelia infection; Antibiotics; Body lice; Relapsing fever; Libya; Spirochetes; Somalian people

Domaines: Maladies infectieuses

Spinello Antinori, Oleg Mediannikov, Mario Corbellino, Romualdo Grande, Carlo Parravicini, et al.. Louse-Borne Relapsing Fever (Borrelia recurrentis) in a Somali Refugee Arriving in Italy: A Re-emerging Infection in Europe?. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2016, 10 (5), ⟨10.1371/journal.pntd.0004522⟩. ⟨hal-01458378⟩