Multilocus Sequence Typing Implicates Rodents as the Main Reservoir Host of Human-Pathogenic Borrelia garinii in Japan

Multilocus sequence typing of Borrelia garinii isolates from humans and comparison with rodent and tick isolates were performed. Fifty-nine isolates were divided into two phylogenetic groups, and an association was detected between clinical and rodent isolates, suggesting that, in Japan, human-pathogenic B. garinii comes from rodents via ticks.