JESSEY,PAX2025-02-262025-02-262003https://www.suaire.sua.ac.tz/handle/123456789/6598ThesisA total of 250 rodents, 251 adult and nymph ticks and seven human blood samples were collected from Mvumi township in Dodoma region, Tanzania, between November, 2001 and February, 2002, and analysed for the presence of the tick-borne relapsing fever agent (TBRF), Borrelia duttonii. Cultures of the spirochetes were made in Barbour-Stoenner-Kellys (BSK-II) medium, and molecular characterization of the spirochetes was done by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Spirochete cultures were successfully grown from two out of the seven human blood samples. No spirochetes grew in either of the cultures of the rodent blood or the tick haemolymph and crushed tick samples. These samples were negative for spirochetes by staining and direct microscopy. PCR detected Borrelia DNA from two of the seven human blood samples, and from one of either rodent (Rat t us rattus), and tick samples. This is the first study on the possibility of rodents playing a role in the transmission of Borrelia spp in Tanzania. The detection of Borrelia DNA in rodents originating from this TBRF endemic area suggests the possibility of rodents playing a role in the maintenance of the TBRF agent, B. duttonii. Since it is generally accepted that only humans are the reservoirs of B. duttonii, this study calls for further investigation to determine the importance of commensal rodents and other mammals in the epidemiology of relapsing fever in Tanzania.enRodentsTick-borneAetiological agentBorrelia duttoniiThesis