LYME-DISEASE IN TAIWAN - FIRST HUMAN PATIENT WITH CHARACTERISTIC ERYTHEMA CHRONICUM MIGRANS SKIN LESION

We report herein the first laboratory-diagnosed case of Lyme disease i n a human in Taiwan. A 45-year-old Taiwanese man living in Taipei, in northern Taiwan, had an expanding skin lesion (measuring 23 by 15 cm) on his abdomen for 2 to 3 weeks and recurrent attacks of pain and swel ling of the knee joint. Serologic tests indicated a significantly elev ated titer of antibody to Borrelia burgdorferi. After appropriate anti biotic treatment for 3 weeks, the skin lesion was cured and the joint swelling was improved. Although several strains of Borrelia spirochete s had been isolated from rodents (Rattus losea) in Taiwan, the tick ve ctor responsible for the transmission remains to be identified.