Relapsing fever Borrelia in California: a pilot serological study

Figures & data

Table 1 Total Lyme and RFB Western Blot Summary, October 2016 through May 2018

Western blot	IgM	IgG	IgM/G	Indeterminate	Negative	Total positivea
Lyme	54 (10%)	98 (18%)	19 (3%)	94 (17%)	278 (51%)	171 (32%)
RFB	61 (11%)	53 (10%)	7 (1%)	0	422 (78%)	121 (22%)

Notes:

a Combined Lyme/RFB in 39 positive cases (7% of total).

Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

Table 2 California Lyme and RFB Western Blot Summary, October 2016 through May 2018

Western blot	IgM	IgG	IgM/G	Indeterminate	Negative	Total positivea
Lyme	37 (12%)	63 (19%)	6 (2%)	67 (21%)	148 (46%)	106 (33%)
RFB	52 (17%)	29 (9%)	6 (2%)	0	234 (73%)	87 (27%)

Notes:

a Combined Lyme/RFB in 36 positive cases (11% of total).

Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

Table 3 Lyme Western Blot by California County, October 2016 through May 2018

County	n	IgM	IgG	IgM/G	Indeterminate	Negative	Total positive
Alameda	27	4 (15%)	8 (30%)	3 (11%)	6 (22%)	6 (22%)	15 (56%)
Contra Costa	25	2 (8%)	11 (44%)	1 (4%)	1 (4%)	10 (40%)	14 (56%)
El Dorado	4	2 (50%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (50%)	2 (50%)
Fresno	17	0 (0%)	5 (29%)	0 (0%)	8 (47%)	4 (24%)	5 (29%)
Humboldt	11	0 (0%)	1 (9%)	0 (0%)	2 (18%)	8 (73%)	1 (9%)
Imperial	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)	0 (0%)
Los Angeles	14	4 (29%)	4 (29%)	1 (7%)	2 (14%)	3 (21%)	9 (64%)
Marin	28	2 (7%)	1 (4%)	0 (0%)	4 (14%)	21 (75%)	3 (11%)
Mendocino	2	2 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)
Napa	3	0 (0%)	2 (67%)	0 (0%)	1 (33%)	0 (0%)	2 (67%)
Nevada	2	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	0 (0%)	1 (50%)
Orange	9	2 (22%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	7 (78%)	2 (22%)
Placer	5	1 (20%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (40%)	2 (40%)	1 (20%)
Sacramento	5	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	5 (100%)	0 (0%)
San Diego	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
San Francisco	48	6 (13%)	9 (19%)	1 (2%)	9 (19%)	23 (48%)	16 (33%)
San Joaquin	5	0 (0%)	1 (20%)	0 (0%)	4 (80%)	0 (0%)	1 (20%)
San Mateo	12	3 (25%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4 (33%)	5 (42%)	3 (25%)
Santa Clara	66	4 (6%)	15 (23%)	0 (0%)	15 (23%)	32 (48%)	19 (29%)
Santa Cruz	19	4 (21%)	2 (11%)	0 (0%)	4 (21%)	9 (47%)	6 (32%)
Solano	4	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (50%)	2 (50%)	0 (0%)
Sonoma	8	1 (13%)	3 (38%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4 (50%)	4 (50%)
Sutter	1	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (100%)	0 (0%)
Tehama	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)	0 (0%)
Total	321	37 (12%)	63 (20%)	6 (2%)	67 (21%)	148 (46%)	106 (33%)

Table 4 RFB Western Blot by California County, October 2016 through May 2018

County	n	IgM	IgG	IgM/G	Indeterminate	Negative	Total positive
Alameda	27	13 (48%)	3 (11%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	11 (41%)	16 (59%)
Contra Costa	25	4 (16%)	1 (4%)	3 (12%)	0 (0%)	17 (68%)	8 (32%)
El Dorado	4	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (25%)	0 (0%)	3 (75%)	1 (25%)
Fresno	17	0 (0%)	2 (12%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	15 (88%)	2 (12%)
Humboldt	11	4 (36%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	7 (64%)	4 (36%)
Imperial	2	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	1 (50%)
Los Angeles	14	1 (7%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	13 (93%)	1 (7%)
Marin	28	8 (29%)	4 (14%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	16 (57%)	12 (43%)
Mendocino	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)	0 (0%)
Napa	3	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	3 (100%)	0 (0%)
Nevada	2	1 (50%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	1 (50%)
Orange	9	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	9 (100%)	0 (0%)
Placer	5	2 (40%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	3 (60%)	2 (40%)
Sacramento	5	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	5 (100%)	0 (0%)
San Diego	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)	0 (0%)
San Francisco	48	5 (10%)	5 (10%)	2 (4%)	0 (0%)	36 (75%)	12 (25%)
San Joaquin	5	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	5 (100%)	0 (0%)
San Mateo	12	1 (8%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	11 (92%)	1 (8%)
Santa Clara	66	10 (15%)	11 (17%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	45 (68%)	21 (32%)
Santa Cruz	19	0 (0%)	2 (11%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	17 (89%)	2 (11%)
Solano	4	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	4 (100%)	0 (0%)
Sonoma	8	2 (25%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	6 (75%)	2 (25%)
Sutter	1	1 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (100%)
Tehama	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	2 (100%)	0 (0%)
Total	321	52 (16%)	29 (9%)	6 (2%)	0 (0%)	234 (73%)	87 (27%)

Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

Table 5 Lyme, RFB, and Lyme/RFB Western Blot Summary by California County, October 2016 through May 2018

County	n	Lyme positive	RFB positive	Lyme + RFB
Alameda	27	8 (30%)	9 (33%)	7 (26%)
Contra Costa	25	6 (24%)	0 (0%)	8 (32%)
El Dorado	4	1 (25%)	0 (0%)	1 (25%)
Fresno	17	3 (18%)	0 (0%)	2 (12%)
Humboldt	11	1 (9%)	4 (36%)	0 (0%)
Imperial	2	0 (0%)	1 (50%)	0 (0%)
Los Angeles	14	8 (57%)	0 (0%)	1 (7%)
Marin	28	3 (11%)	12 (43%)	0 (0%)
Mendocino	2	2 (100%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Napa	3	2 (67%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Nevada	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	1 (50%)
Orange	9	2 (22%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Placer	5	0 (0%)	1 (20%)	1 (20%)
Sacramento	5	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
San Diego	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
San Francisco	48	9 (19%)	5 (10%)	7 (15%)
San Joaquin	5	1 (20%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
San Mateo	12	3 (25%)	1 (8%)	0 (0%)
Santa Clara	66	13 (20%)	15 (23%)	6 (9%)
Santa Cruz	19	5 (26%)	1 (5%)	1 (5%)
Solano	4	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Sonoma	8	3 (38%)	1 (13%)	1 (13%)
Sutter	1	0 (0%)	1 (100%)	0 (0%)
Tehama	2	0 (0%)	0 (0%)	0 (0%)
Total	321	70 (22%)	51 (16%)	36 (11%)

Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

Table 6 Prevalence of Positive Lyme, RFB, and Lyme/RFB Western Blots by California County, October 2016 through May 2018

County and number tested	Population	Total positive (per 100,000)	Lyme positive (per 100,000)	RFB positive (per 100,000)	Lyme + RFB (per 100,000)
Alameda, 27	1,660,202	24 (1.45)	8 (0.48)	9 (0.54)	7 (0.42)
Contra Costa, 25	1,149,363	14 (1.22)	6 (0.52)	0 (0)	8 (0.70)
El Dorado, 4	188,399	2 (1.06)	1 (0.53)	0 (0)	1 (0.53)
Fresno, 17	1,007,229	5 (0.50)	3 (0.30)	0 (0)	2 (0.20)
Humboldt, 11	136,002	5 (3.68)	1 (0.74)	4 (2.94)	0 (0)
Imperial, 2	190,624	1 (0.52)	0 (0)	1 (0.52)	0 (0)
Los Angeles, 14	10,283,729	9 (0.09)	8 (0.08)	0 (0)	1 (0.01)
Marin, 28	263,886	15 (5.68)	3 (1.14)	12 (4.55)	0 (0)
Mendocino, 2	89,299	2 (2.24)	2 (2.24)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Napa, 3	141,294	2 (1.42)	2 (1.42)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Nevada, 2	99,155	1 (1.01)	0 (0)	0 (0)	1 (1.01)
Orange, 9	3,221,103	2 (0.06)	2 (0.06)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Placer, 5	389,532	2 (0.51)	0 (0)	1 (0.26)	1 (0.26)
Sacramento, 5	1,529,501	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
San Diego, 2	3,337,456	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
San Francisco, 48	883,963	21(2.38)	9 (1.02)	5 (0.57)	7 (0.79)
San Joaquin, 5	758,744	1 (0.13)	1 (0.13)	0 (0)	0 (0)
San Mateo, 12	774,155	4 (0.52)	3 (0.39)	1 (0.13)	0 (0)
Santa Clara, 66	1,956,598	34 (1.74)	13 (0.66)	15 (0.77)	6 (0.31)
Santa Cruz, 19	276,864	7 (2.53)	5 (1.81)	1 (0.36)	1 (0.36)
Solano, 4	439,793	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Sonoma, 8	503,332	5 (0.99)	3 (0.60)	1 (0.20)	1 (0.20)
Sutter, 1	97,238	1 (1.03)	0 (0)	1 (1.03)	0 (0)
Tehama, 2	64,039	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Total 321	29,441,410	157 (0.53)	70 (0.24)	51 (0.17)	36 (0.12)

Notes: County population estimates were derived from financial records (http://www.dof.ca.gov/Forecasting/Demographics/Estimates/E-1/). Numbers in bold represent counties with the highest prevalence of Lyme and/or RFB.

Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

Figure 1 Venn diagram of 321 California patients tested for Lyme, RFB, and dual Lyme + RFB seropositivity, October 2016 through May 2018.

Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

Figure 2 Map showing distribution of Lyme, RFB and Lyme + RFB testing in California counties, October 2016 through May 2018.

Notes: Patients from 24 counties were tested. Lyme testing alone was positive in four counties, RFB testing alone was positive in two counties, Lyme + RFB testing was positive in 14 counties, and no positive testing was found in four counties. Map created using https://mapchart.net/.⁴⁵
Abbreviation: RFB, Relapsing Fever Borrelia.

mapchart.net Available from: https://mapchart.net/Accessed September 10, 2018

 Google Scholar