Identification and characterization of Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, isolated in Korea.

Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, were identified and characterized for the first time in Korea. Four isolates, designated Konkuk-1, Konkuk-2, Kangwon-3, and KM-4, were made from midgut suspensions of three Ixodes ticks and heart tissue from one mouse, Apodemus agrarius, collected from Chungbuk and Kangwon provinces. The four Korean isolates and B. burgdorferi sensu lato from other geographic areas and biological sources were compared by using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for protein profiles, Western blot (immunoblot) analysis for reactivities with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, and agarose gel electrophoresis for plasmid profiles. Two typing schemes using polymerase chain reaction identified three of the isolates as members of group VS461 and one, Kangwon-3, as Borrelia garinii. These results demonstrate the potential for human Lyme disease to occur in some provinces of Korea.