ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2021
Tick-borne relapsing fever Borreliosis, a major public health problem overlooked in Senegal.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2021. 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 It has been retracted, and should not be counted.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 22 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
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 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
- A compilation of ticks and tick-borne pathogen distributions in seven countries within North and West Africa from 1901 to 2022: a systematic literature review.Parasites & vectors · 2025Pooled it
- Quantitative polymerase chain reaction from malaria rapid diagnostic tests to detect Borrelia crocidurae in Mali.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Editorial Note: Tick-borne relapsing fever Borreliosis, a major public health problem overlooked in Senegal.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Oral and plasma microbiome in the context of acute febrile illness.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Active Surveillance and Farm-Level Risk Evaluation of African Swine Fever in Southern Nigeria.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) and tick-borne diseases in Cameroon: Current understanding and future directions for more comprehensive surveillance.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Review
- Development and validation of systems for genetic manipulation of the Old World tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia duttonii.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- [Contribution of qPCR to the diagnosis of cervico-vaginal infections at the Hôpital Principal de Dakar, Senegal].Medecine tropicale et sante internationale · 2024Article
- Investigating the etiologies of non-malarial febrile illness in Senegal using metagenomic sequencing.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Aetiologies of bacterial tick-borne febrile illnesses in humans in Africa: diagnostic limitations and the need for improvement.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- Tick-Borne Diseases of Humans and Animals in West Africa.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Article
- Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction from Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests to Detect Borrelia crocidurae, the Agent of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever, in Febrile Patients in Senegal.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2023Article
- An Updated Review ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The Surveillance ofVeterinary sciences · 2023Article
- Molecular Surveillance for Vector-Borne Bacteria in Rodents and Tree Shrews of Peninsular Malaysia Oil Palm Plantations.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2023Article
- Comparative Analysis of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever Spirochaetes from Ethiopia and Nigeria.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Expression of Concern: Tick-borne relapsing fever Borreliosis, a major public health problem overlooked in Senegal.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Pathogen Detection inMicroorganisms · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Expression of concern · 2022-12-13Investigation by Journal/Publisher ·
- Commented on by
- Expression of concern
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is the most common vector-borne bacterial disease in humans in West Africa. It is frequently clinically confused with malaria. Our study aims to determine, on a micro-geographic scale, the conditions for the maintenance and spread of TBRF in the Niakhar district of Senegal. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsWe conducted clinical, entomological and animal reservoir investigations. Field surveys were carried out in order to investigate the presence of Ornithodoros sonrai vector ticks and to detect Borrelia spp. by qPCR using the 16S rRNA and glpQ genes, respectively. Micromammal trapping series were carried out inside homes and Borrelia infection was detected using brain tissue qPCR. Capillary blood samples from febrile patients were also tested for Borrelia using qPCR. More than 97% (40/41) of the villages surveyed were infested with O. sonrai ticks. The prevalence of Borrelia spp. infections in ticks was 13% (116/910), and over 73% (85/116) were positively confirmed as being Borrelia crocidurae. Borreliosis cases accounted for 12% (94/800) of episodes of fever and all age groups were infected, with children and young people between the ages of 8-14 and 22-28 being the most infected by the disease (16% and 18.4%). TBRF cases occurred in all seasons, with a peak in August. In two species of small rodents that were found to be infected (Arvicanthis niloticus, Mus musculus), the proportion of Borrelia infection was 17.5% (10/57), and the highest prevalence of infection (40.9%, 9/22) was observed in A. niloticus. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our study indicates that TBRF is an endemic disease in the Niakhar district, where children and young people are the most infected. Arvicanthis niloticus and O. sonrai ticks are massively present and appear to be the main epidemiological reservoirs causing its extensive spread to humans.
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Registered trials
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