Human blood samples from across New England show evidence of Borrelia miyamotoi, a relative of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. The findings add important new details to understanding the bacteria species, Borrelia miyamotoi, which was only recently found to infect humans. The tiny species is transmitted by the same deer ticks that carry the Lyme disease pathogen, and can cause meningoencephalitis and relapsing fevers. “We thought that Borrelia miyamotoi, because it was so recently discovered, would have been more locally confined,” says Peter Krause, senior research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health and senior author of the study. “To our surprise, it was found at all our testing sites throughout New England.” Krause and Durland Fish, professor emeritus of epidemiology (microbial diseases), were part of a team of researchers who first discovered Borrelia miyamotoi’s ability to infect humans in 2011. Graduate student researcher Demerise Johnston is first author of the new study in the journal Clinical …