Lyme Diseases Symptoms & Treatment: New Bacteria Species Found in Midwest - Are You at Risk?

A new species of bacteria that can cause Lyme disease have been found recently by researchers. This is the second species discovered to transmit the debilitating illness across North America.

According to ABC News, with the collaborative efforts of local health departments from Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota, scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and researchers from Mayo clinic, the bacteria was discovered after six people with suspected Lyme disease showed with unusual results. The bacteria is called Borrelia mayonii, in honor after the researchers at Mayo Clinic.

Until know, Borrelia burgdorferi was the only known cause of Lyme disease in North America, according to the study published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet.

Scientists at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. first suspected the possibility of new bacteria after laboratory tests from six people with suspected Lyme disease produced unusual results. With extensive genetic testing, it revealed that newly-found bacteria is closely related to B. burgdorferi.

Limited information gathered from the first six patients suggests that the illness caused by the new bacteria is similar to that caused by B. burgdorferi. However, researchers found out that B. mayonii can cause nausea and vomiting, diffuse rashes and a higher concentration of bacteria in the blood.

Normal symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, headache, rash and neck pain during the early stages of infection. Typically weeks after exposure during later stages of infection, the patient may experience arthritis, according to Fox News.

The first discovered bacteria is associated with a rash that forms a "bull's eye" shape. However, the telltale bull's eye rash is not present in the new bacterial strain of Lyme disease. Given the lack of the bull's eye rash and the addition of new symptoms, the disease have higher chances of being misdiagnosed or mistreated.

The CDC said their finding suggest that the new bacteria is limited to the upper Midwest. The agency could not find similar strain in the other 25,000 blood samples collected from residents who are suspected of Lyme disease from other 43 states, including Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic where Lyme disease is most common.

According to Fox News, more than 200,000 people are infected with this tick-borne illness each year. Because the disease mimics the symptoms of flu during its early stages, Lyme disease may not be detected until the later stages.

If left untreated, it can result potentially life-threatening damage to the heart, joints and nervous system. According to the Mayo Clinic, antibiotics can treat the symptoms of fever, headache and fatigue that can last two to four weeks.

Those patients infected by the new bacteria were also successfully treated with antibiotics commonly used to treat the Lyme disease. The CDC recommends that health care providers should follow the same antibiotic regimen to treat Lyme disease caused by the new bacteria strain.

To know more about Lyme disease, check out the video below: