Species ***Borrelia* *afzelii***

Name: Borrelia afzelii Canica et al. 1994

Category: Species

Proposed as: sp. nov.

Etymology: af.ze’li.i. N.L. gen. masc. n. afzelii, of Afzelius, named in honor of Arvid Afzelius, a Swedish physician who was the first to report the skin lesion characteristic of Lyme borreliosis in 1909

Pronunciation (Latin), gender: bor-RE-li-a af-ZE-li-i, feminine

Type strain: ATCC 51567; CIP 103469; DSM 10508; VS461

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: U78151 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Canica MM, Nato F, du Merle L, Mazie JC, Baranton G, Postic D. Monoclonal antibodies for identification of Borrelia afzelii sp. nov. associated with late cutaneous manifestations of Lyme borreliosis. Scand J Infect Dis 1993; 25:441-448.

IJSEM list: Anonymous. Validation list no. 48. Validation of publication of new names and new combinations previously effectively published outside the IJSB. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1994; 44:182-183.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name (and explicitly recommended for medical use)

Risk group: 2

Synonyms:

Name	Kind
Borreliella afzelii (Canica et al. 1994) Adeolu and Gupta 2018	homotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP

Notes:
- 😷 The risk group for Belgium has been imported on 2024-02-05. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "human pathogen". — The risk group for Canada has been imported on 2024-02-27. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Animal classification RG: 2 - Security sensitive biological agent: No - Terrestrial animal pathogen under Canadian Food Inspection Agency authority: No - Containment level: Containment Level 2". — The risk group for Swiss Confederation has been imported on 2024-02-01. The full classification is: risk group = 2. — The risk group for Germany has been imported on 2026-08-13. The full classification is: risk group = 2, note = "Z". — If in doubt, use the risk group given in the regulations for your country and, if these are not available, use the risk group given in the catalogue of the culture collection from which you have obtained or intend to obtain the strain.
- 🎓 Name mentioned 673 times in PubMed until 2026-06-11.
- 🙆 This name is on the List of Recommended Names for bacteria of medical importance (LoRN) as the name to be applied to this species. The name is on LoRN because of the recorded risk group of the species itself.
- 🧍 Borrelia afzelii Canica et al. 1994 was previously known as Borrelia genomic group VS461. Publication: Swellengrebel NH. Sur la cytologie comparée des spirochètes et des spirilles. Annales de l'Institut Pasteur (Paris) 1907; 21:562-586.

Parent taxon: Borrelia Swellengrebel 1907 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Canica MM, Nato F, du Merle L, Mazie JC, Baranton G, Postic D. Monoclonal antibodies for identification of Borrelia afzelii sp. nov. associated with late cutaneous manifestations of Lyme borreliosis. Scand J Infect Dis 1993; 25:441-448.

Linking: To permanently link to this page, use https://doi.org/10.83108/rn.774108Link copied to clipboard

Record number: 774108

This LPSN page was printed on 2026-09-09 22:13:12

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Species Borrelia afzelii

Species ***Borrelia* *afzelii***