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Shown in this darkfield microscopy (400x mag) are the spirochetal bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium responsible for Lyme disease.
Borrelia burgdorferi are helical shaped bacteria and are about 10-25µm long. These bacteria are transmitted to humans by the bite of infected deer ticks and caused more than 23,000 infections in the United States in 2002. 1993 L-206, Lyme Disease, 1993 CD_100_DH/ 018 http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/ CDC – Div. of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases: Lyme Disease Home Page http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/submenus/sub_lyme.htm CDC – National Center for Infectious Diseases – Lyme Disease
By Photo Credit:Content Providers(s): CDC [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons