Relapsing fevers are considered, on the one hand, emerging or re-emerging diseases, and on the other hand, they still belong to neglected diseases which attract little attention of researchers and the public in developed countries. Genus Borrelia is divided into two large groups. The first of these is Borreli aburgdorferi sensulato– the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, first isolated from the Ixodesdamminitick. The second large group of Borrelia spirochetes contains more than 20 species associated with relapsing fever, which are mainly transmitted by soft ticks, with the exception of B. recurrentis transmitted by lice. Comparision of the DNA of different species within this genus showed that the similarity between them is often small, e.g. the DNA homology between B. miyamotoi and B. burgdorferi s.s. or B. garinii is 13%, and B. afzelii only 8%, whereas the B. miyamotoi DNA has a profile similar to the representatives of the tick-borne relapsing fevers, such as B. hermsii (44%), B. turicatae (41%), B. Parkeri (51%). Symptoms of relapsing fevers transmitted by lice and by ticks are very similar. The following symptoms are characteristic for both types of relapsing fevers: high fever with sudden onset, chills, severe headache, muscle and joint pain, drowsiness, photophobia and cough.
1. Introduction. 2. Systematics – classification. 3. Clinical symptoms. 4. Summary
