What is the difference between Lyme disease and Borreliosis?
A.1 – Lyme disease (not Lymes) is a bacterial infection. The cause of Lyme disease is a spirochaete (a long, thin spiral shaped bacterium) called Borrelia. The true Lyme disease pathogen is called Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) sensu stricto (i.e. meaning Bb in the strict sense). Bb was the cause of a sudden cluster of cases in Old Lyme, Connecticut, where Lyme disease gets its name from. Later other species (or sub-species) were found in Europe and other areas and these were given different names. They all come under the umbrella term of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (meaning Bb in the broad sense). In the UK and most of Europe the most commonly found species of Borrelia include Borrelia burgdorferi, B garinii, B afzelii and B valaisiana. Of these species hundreds of subtypes of differing strains are known to exist. The various strains can produce differing symptoms. Bb sensu stricto is known to result predominately in rheumatological complications, while other strains can have more pred
