Subscribe to our newsletter
To receive updates from LPSN every few months, sign up to our mailing list.
Species Borrelia hermsii
Name: Borrelia hermsii (Davis 1942) Steinhaus 1946 (Approved Lists 1980)
Basonym: "Spirochaeta hermsi" Davis 1942
Etymology: herm’si.i. N.L. gen. masc. n. hermsii, of hermsi, the specific epithet of the tick vector, Ornithodoros hermsi
Pronunciation, gender: HERM-si-i, feminine
Type strain: no culture available
Effective publication: Steinhaus EA. Insect Microbiology. Comstock Publishing Co., Ithaca, New York, 1946.
IJSEM list:
Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420. 
Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP
Taxonomic status: correct name (and explicitly recommended for medical use)
-
Synonyms:
-
Name Kind Borrelia nietonii Schwan et al. 2024 heterotypic synonym, validly published under the ICNP "Spirochaeta hermsi" Davis 1942 homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists
-
-
Notes:
-
⏰ According to Committee (2025), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Borrelia nietonii Schwan et al. 2024.
Publication:
Committee AH. Mitigating changes in prokaryotic nomenclature: Definitions and Workflow. Zenodo 2025; 2025:15320329.
- 😷 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 2023-10-29. 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 269 times in PubMed until 2025-06-04.
- 🙆 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.
-
⚠ This name is retained (and recommended for medical use. This will change in the future) instead of Borrelia nietonii Schwan et al. 2024.
Publication:
Schwan TG, Raffel SJ, Ricklefs SM, Bruno DP, Martens C. Borrelia nietonii sp. nov.: Relapsing Fever Spirochetes Transmitted By the Tick Ornithodoros hermsi Designated Previously as Borrelia hermsii Genomic Group II. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2024; 24:278-284.
Oren A, Göker M. Validation list no. 220. List of new names and new combinations previously effectively, but not validly, published. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2024; 74:6501.
-
🧍 According to Bartlett et al. (2022), this species is an established human pathogen.
Publication:
Bartlett A, Padfield D, Lear L, Bendall R, Vos M. A comprehensive list of bacterial pathogens infecting humans. Microbiology (Reading) 2022; 168:0.
-
🧍 According to Yarza et al. (2013), an "un-sequenced orphan species where descriptions, illustrations or dead preserved material serve as the type.".
Publication:
Yarza P, Sproer C, Swiderski J, Mrotzek N, Spring S, Tindall BJ, Gronow S, Pukall R, Klenk HP, Lang E, et al. Sequencing orphan species initiative (SOS): Filling the gaps in the 16S rRNA gene sequence database for all species with validly published names. Syst Appl Microbiol 2013; 36:69-73.
-
🧍 Viable cultures are now available (i.e. CIP 104209 = DSM 4682) but no type strain has been designated.
Publication:
Euzeby JP. List of Bacterial Names with Standing in Nomenclature: a folder available on the Internet. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1997; 47:590-592.
-
⏰ According to Committee (2025), this species is an earlier heterotypic synonym of Borrelia nietonii Schwan et al. 2024.
Publication:
Committee AH. Mitigating changes in prokaryotic nomenclature: Definitions and Workflow. Zenodo 2025; 2025:15320329.
Parent taxon: Borrelia Swellengrebel 1907 (Approved Lists 1980)
Assigned by: Steinhaus EA. Insect Microbiology. Comstock Publishing Co., Ithaca, New York, 1946.
Linking: To permanently link to this page, use https://lpsn.dsmz.de/species/borrelia-hermsiiLink copied to clipboard
Record number: 774115
This LPSN page was printed on 2025-11-17 16:26:06