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spirochete

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spirochete

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Scanning electron micrograph of the spirochete Treponema pallidum attached to testicular …
(credit: ASM/Science Source)
Any of an order (Spirochaetales) of spiral-shaped bacteria. Some are serious pathogens for humans, causing such diseases as syphilis, yaws, and relapsing fever. Spirochetes are gram-negative (see gram stain) and motile. They are unique in that their flagella, which number between two and more than 200 per organism, are contained within the cell. Most spirochetes are found in a liquid environment (e.g., mud and water, blood and lymph). Several species are borne by lice and ticks, which transmit them to humans.

spirochete [′spī·rə‚kēt]
(microbiology)
The common name for any member of the order Spirochaetales.


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Blood samples from patients with fever were examined for RF spirochetes by microscopy, PCR, and DNA sequencing of amplicons and for antibodies to the glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase antigen.
Tickborne relapsing fever diagnosis obscured by Malaria, Togo by Bergstrom, Sven / Emerging Infectious Diseases
Even after syphilis was identified, it was often confused with gonorrhea and various genito-urinary or skin conditions since physicians of the time diagnosed the disease based on symptoms; the spirochete causing it was not isolated until late in the nineteenth century.
A Horrible New Disease Sweeps Early Modern Europe by Bullough, Vern L. / The Journal of Sex Research
But the probable culprit is a spirochete bacterium, since it appears contagious and more than 90% of lesions respond to antibiotics.
Keep cows on their toes: hoof trimming and foot care are essential to ... by Bower-Spence, Kim / Dairy Today
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