{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T19:34:28Z","timestamp":1783020868546,"version":"3.54.6"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0014473","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,2]],"date-time":"2026-07-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782950400000}}],"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782691200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100009168","name":"Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["CA#: AP22VSSP0000C050"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["CA#: AP22VSSP0000C050"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100009168","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"USDA McIntire Stennis","award":["FLA-WEC-006303"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FLA-WEC-006303"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    In the southwestern United States, the occurrence and potential for disease spread of Tick-Borne Relapsing Fever (TBRF) has been studied. In Florida,\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    pathogens that cause TBRF have only been found in two domestic dogs (\n                    <jats:italic>Canis lupus familiaris<\/jats:italic>\n                    ), yet the soft tick vector,\n                    <jats:italic>Ornithodoros turicata americanus<\/jats:italic>\n                    , is commonly found throughout the state. The goal of our study was to provide the first large-scale investigation of this disease system in the southeastern US. Our objectives were to: 1) describe the occurrence and prevalence of\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. in ticks found throughout their distribution; and 2) phylogenetically describe the pathogen species compared to other isolates of\n                    <jats:italic>B. turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                    . We pooled ticks by sample location and extracted DNA from over 3,000 ticks systematically collected throughout Florida. Conventional PCR was used with a genus-wide IGS primer to detect any\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. present in the ticks. We discovered a low but detectable prevalence (7\/745; 0.94%) of the pathogen within localized foci, which could present an epidemiological risk to humans and companion animals in those areas. We Sanger sequenced the 7 pools that were positive for\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia<\/jats:italic>\n                    spp. and created a phylogenetic tree with our samples and 27 previously described isolates. Our tree showed clustering of our samples into two distinct clades, one that fit with Texas isolates and one that was entirely distinct. We hypothesized that a combination of biogeographic and host influences may be the driving force behind the history of\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                    in Florida. Future research is needed to improve our understanding of the drivers of pathogen occurrence and the phylogeography of this species. By understanding the occurrence and phylogenetics of\n                    <jats:italic>Borrelia turicatae<\/jats:italic>\n                    in the state, we can better comprehend and mitigate the risk of this neglected vector-borne disease for humans and companion animals in Florida.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0014473","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]],"date-time":"2026-06-29T17:34:27Z","timestamp":1782754467000},"page":"e0014473","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prevalence, distribution, and phylogenetics of the tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia turicatae in the soft tick Ornithodoros turicata americanus in Florida"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Nicholas","family":"Canino","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carson W.","family":"Torhorst","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sebastian","family":"Botero-Ca\u00f1ola","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kristen N.","family":"Wilson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1748-4518","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Samantha M.","family":"Wisely","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,29]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0014473.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0000566","article-title":"Reframing critical needs in vector biology and management of vector-borne disease","volume":"4","author":"S Luckhart","year":"2010","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis"},{"key":"pntd.0014473.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"33","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-12-814043-7.00004-2","article-title":"Epidemiology of vector-borne diseases","volume-title":"Medical and Veterinary Entomology","author":"CM Barker","year":"2019"},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0014473.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.18-0841","article-title":"Combatting the Increasing Threat of Vector-Borne Disease in the United States with a National Vector-Borne Disease Prevention and Control System","volume":"100","author":"LR Petersen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Am J Trop Med Hyg"},{"issue":"5","key":"pntd.0014473.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"404","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmi.2015.04.022","article-title":"Neglected bacterial zoonoses","volume":"21","author":"I Chikeka","year":"2015","journal-title":"Clin Microbiol Infect"},{"issue":"4","key":"pntd.0014473.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1115","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2672.2009.04598.x","article-title":"Relapsing fever \u2013 a forgotten disease revealed","volume":"108","author":"SJ Cutler","year":"2010","journal-title":"J Appl Microbiol"},{"key":"pntd.0014473.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1590\/0037-8682-0443-2021","article-title":"Borrelioses in Brazil: Is it time to consider tick-borne relapsing fever a neglected disease in Brazil?","volume":"54","author":"\u00c1A Faccini-Mart\u00ednez","year":"2021","journal-title":"Rev Soc Bras Med Trop"},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0014473.ref007","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010212","article-title":"Tick borne relapsing fever - 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