Prevalence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto in humans from a Cuban village

Abstract

Lyme disease has not been officially reported in Cuba. However, clinical cases have been serologically reported. Seroprevalence survey of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto antibodies in humans in the country has not been conducted. Objective: To estimate the prevalence of borrelial antibodies in inhabitants of a village with historically high level of tick infestation. Methods: Serum specimens from 247 persons randomly selected from the population of the village were examined by IgG Western blot using B31 strain for estimating the prevalence of antibodies profile. Results: A seroprevalence value interval (95% CI) of 0.6%–7.2% was estimated for the studied population. The prevalent borrelial protein bands on immunoblots were 41, 72, 90/93, 34, 47, 60, 58, 56, 65/66 and 31 kDa in a decreasing order of significance. Conclusion: These results support the previous serological findings, suggesting the presence of this borreliosis in Cuba. Keywords: Borrelia burgdorferi, Prevalence, Lyme disease, Antibodies