ReviewThe Lancet. Microbe2024
The global distribution and the risk prediction of relapsing fever group Borrelia: a data review with modelling analysis.
Review in The Lancet. Microbe, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
19 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Mapping the Global Distribution ofTransboundary and emerging diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Relapsing fever revisited: New insights into neglected borrelial infections.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Review
- Ticks and Tick-Borne Microorganisms in Australian Wildlife: A Scoping One Health Evidence Synthesis of Reported Associations and Knowledge Gaps.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- New host record of Amblyomma pakhtunensis on the Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) with detection of a distinct Borrelia lineage.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Improving Molecular Detection of Tick-Borne Pathogens in Citizen-Collected Ticks.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Louse-borne relapsing fever in Ethiopia: an urgent call for WHO recognition as a neglected tropical disease.BMJ global health · 2026Review
- Genomic and structural analysis of major antigenic proteins' variability in the human relapsing fever spirocheteCurrent research in microbial sciences · 2026Article
- Geospatial epidemiological approaches to the prevention and control of vector-borne diseases: A systematic review.Infectious diseases & immunity · 2026Review
- Molecular characterization of livestock-associated ticks and tick-borne bacteria in Xinjiang, northwestern China.Parasites & vectors · 2025Article
- Analytical comparison of 11 CE-IVD marked real-time PCR assays for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato detection.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2025Article
- The differences in microbial communities and Tick-Borne pathogens between Dermacentor marginatus and Hyalomma asiaticum collected from the Northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- High Schistosoma mansoni infection intensity is associated with distinct gut microbiota and low levels of systemic cytokines in children along the Albert-Nile, Northern Uganda.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- A One Health Zoonotic Vector Borne Infectious Disease Family Outbreak Investigation.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Review
- Tick-Borne Diseases and Pregnancy: A Narrative Review Evaluating Pregnancy Complications Caused by Tick-Borne Diseases.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Review
- Article
- Prevalence of Lyme Disease and Relapsing FeverPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Systematic investigation of theOne health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2024Article
- Late-stage borreliosis and substance abuse.Heliyon · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe recent discovery of emerging relapsing fever group Borrelia (RFGB) species, such as Borrelia miyamotoi, poses a growing threat to public health. However, the global distribution and associated risk burden of these species remain uncertain. We aimed to map the diversity, distribution, and potential infection risk of RFGB.
methodsWe searched PubMed, Web of Science, GenBank, CNKI, and eLibrary from Jan 1, 1874, to Dec 31, 2022, for published articles without language restriction to extract distribution data for RFGB detection in vectors, animals, and humans, and clinical information about human patients. Only articles documenting RFGB infection events were included in this study, and data for RFGB detection in vectors, animals, or humans were composed into a dataset. We used three machine learning algorithms (boosted regression trees, random forest, and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator logistic regression) to assess the environmental, ecoclimatic, biological, and socioeconomic factors associated with the occurrence of four major RFGB species: Borrelia miyamotoi, Borrelia lonestari, Borrelia crocidurae, and Borrelia hermsii; and mapped their worldwide risk level.
findingsWe retrieved 13 959 unique studies, among which 697 met the selection criteria and were used for data extraction. 29 RFGB species have been recorded worldwide, of which 27 have been identified from 63 tick species, 12 from 61 wild animals, and ten from domestic animals. 16 RFGB species caused human infection, with a cumulative count of 26 583 cases reported from Jan 1, 1874, to Dec 31, 2022. Borrelia recurrentis (17 084 cases) and Borrelia persica (2045 cases) accounted for the highest proportion of human infection. B miyamotoi showed the widest distribution among all RFGB, with a predicted environmentally suitable area of 6·92 million km
interpretationThe predicted high-risk regions are considerably larger than in previous reports. Identification, surveillance, and diagnosis of RFGB infections should be prioritised in high-risk areas, especially within low-income regions.
fundingNational Key Research and Development Program of China.
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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.