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Source: http://www.connpost.com/breakingnews/ci_9682094
Lyme disease: European import
STAFF REPORTS
Article Launched: 06/24/2008 08:24:25 AM EDT
NEW HAVEN Researchers at Yale University and elsewhere have found that Lyme disease in the U.S. is caused by a bacterium that has roots in Europe.
Previously, some researchers had believed the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia Burgdorferi, which is less common in Europe, originated in the United States.
A computer-generated evolutionary tree generated from the disease's DNA shows that European strains are more closely related to a common ancestor than are the North American strains, indicating a European origin for the Lyme disease bacterium in the U.S.
The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that is co-authored by scientists at Yale School of Public Health and the University of Bath in England.
"Understanding the evolution of pathogens is a key epidemiological tool," said Durland Fish, professor of epidemiology and principal investigator on the Yale research team that took part in the project, funded by the National Institutes of Health. "By understanding the evolutionary history of pathogens, we can better predict their evolutionary future."
Lyme Disease, which causes more than 20,000 new cases each year in the US, is still spreading from the original outbreak in Lyme, Connecticut. The Yale/Bath team is continuing to study the evolution of the Lyme disease spirochete in Europe and North America hoping to understand how the disease is spreading and where future outbreaks will occur.
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Lyme disease: European import
STAFF REPORTS
Article Launched: 06/24/2008 08:24:25 AM EDT
NEW HAVEN Researchers at Yale University and elsewhere have found that Lyme disease in the U.S. is caused by a bacterium that has roots in Europe.
Previously, some researchers had believed the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia Burgdorferi, which is less common in Europe, originated in the United States.
A computer-generated evolutionary tree generated from the disease's DNA shows that European strains are more closely related to a common ancestor than are the North American strains, indicating a European origin for the Lyme disease bacterium in the U.S.
The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that is co-authored by scientists at Yale School of Public Health and the University of Bath in England.
"Understanding the evolution of pathogens is a key epidemiological tool," said Durland Fish, professor of epidemiology and principal investigator on the Yale research team that took part in the project, funded by the National Institutes of Health. "By understanding the evolutionary history of pathogens, we can better predict their evolutionary future."
Lyme Disease, which causes more than 20,000 new cases each year in the US, is still spreading from the original outbreak in Lyme, Connecticut. The Yale/Bath team is continuing to study the evolution of the Lyme disease spirochete in Europe and North America hoping to understand how the disease is spreading and where future outbreaks will occur.
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