ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2012
Multispacer sequence typing relapsing fever Borreliae in Africa.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It has been retracted, and should not be counted. Cited by 23 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- [West African tick-borne relapsing fever, a neglected disease of major public health importance in Senegal].Medecine tropicale et sante internationale · 2025Pooled it
- Louse-borne relapsing fever-A systematic review and analysis of the literature: Part 1-Epidemiology and diagnostic aspects.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Pooled it
- Relapsing fever revisited: New insights into neglected borrelial infections.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Editorial Note: Multispacer Sequence Typing Relapsing Fever Borreliae in Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Expression of Concern: Multispacer Sequence Typing Relapsing Fever Borreliae in Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Review
- Tick-borne relapsing fever Borreliosis, a major public health problem overlooked in Senegal.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Epidemiological serosurvey of vector-borne and zoonotic pathogens among homeless people living in shelters in Marseille: cross-sectional one-day surveys (2005-2015).European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2020Article
- Case Report and Genetic Sequence Analysis of Candidatus Borrelia kalaharica, Southern Africa.Emerging infectious diseases · 2018Article
- First insights in the variability of Borrelia recurrentis genomes.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2017Article
- "Candidatus Borrelia kalaharica" Detected from a Febrile Traveller Returning to Germany from Vacation in Southern Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2016Article
- Monoclonal Antibodies for the Diagnosis of Borrelia crocidurae.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2016Article
- Louseborne Relapsing Fever in Young Migrants, Sicily, Italy, July-September 2015.Emerging infectious diseases · 2016Article
- Blood-Borne Candidatus Borrelia algerica in a Patient with Prolonged Fever in Oran, Algeria.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2015Article
- Ubiquitous bacteria Borrelia crocidurae in Western African ticks Ornithodoros sonrai.Parasites & vectors · 2015Article
- Diversity of human-associated Methanobrevibacter smithii isolates revealed by multispacer sequence typing.Current microbiology · 2015Article
- Laboratory Diagnosis of Tick-Borne African Relapsing Fevers: Latest Developments.Frontiers in public health · 2015Review
- Genome Sequence of Borrelia crocidurae Strain 03-02, a Clinical Isolate from Senegal.Genome announcements · 2014Article
- Relapsing fever borreliae in Africa.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2013Review
- Borrelia recurrentis in head lice, Ethiopia.Emerging infectious diseases · 2013Article
Corrections and comments
- Expression of concern · 2022-12-13Investigation by Journal/Publisher ·
- Commented on by
- Erratum issuedHaitham, Elbir [corrected to Elbir, Haitham]
- Expression of concern
Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn Africa, relapsing fevers are neglected arthropod-borne infections caused by closely related Borrelia species. They cause mild to deadly undifferentiated fever particularly severe in pregnant women. Lack of a tool to genotype these Borrelia organisms limits knowledge regarding their reservoirs and their epidemiology. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsGenome sequence analysis of Borrelia crocidurae, Borrelia duttonii and Borrelia recurrentis yielded 5 intergenic spacers scattered between 10 chromosomal genes that were incorporated into a multispacer sequence typing (MST) approach. Sequencing these spacers directly from human blood specimens previously found to be infected by B. recurrentis (30 specimens), B. duttonii (17 specimens) and B. crocidurae (13 specimens) resolved these 60 strains and the 3 type strains into 13 species-specific spacer types in the presence of negative controls. B. crocidurae comprised of 8 spacer types, B. duttonii of 3 spacer types and B. recurrentis of 2 spacer types. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Phylogenetic analyses of MST data suggested that B. duttonii, B. crocidurae and B. recurrentis are variants of a unique ancestral Borrelia species. MST proved to be a suitable approach for identifying and genotyping relapsing fever borreliae in Africa. It could be applied to both vectors and clinical specimens.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.