Serological evidence of louse-borne relapsing fever in northern Kenya

Background Tick- and louse-borne relapsing fever are highly-neglected, vector-borne diseases caused by diverse Borrelia species. Presently, there are no data available on the endemicity of tick- and louse-borne relapsing fever spirochetes in Kenya. Here, we present data of a retrospective study on the seroprevalence of louse borne relapsing fever (LBRF) in northern Kenya. Methods A novel immunoassay, recently established for the diagnosis of LBRF was utilized to screen 2005 blood samples collected from individuals with fever without a source in Turkana County, Kenya between 2009 and 2010 for anti-LBRF antibodies. Results Out of the 2005 sera analyzed, 287 samples (14.3 %) were considered anti-LBRF IgG positive. Subsequent analyses revealed that 87 out of 152 sera randomly selected from these 2005 samples were tested positive (57.2 %) for anti-LBRF IgM antibodies. Most of the IgG and IgM positive samples were from individuals living in northern regions of Turkana County. Conclusion Our serological finding provides strong evidence for the occurrence of LBRF in Kenya.