Geographic differences in genetic locus linkages for Borrelia burgdorferi.

Borrelia burdorferi genotype in the northeastern United States is associated with Lyme borreliosis severity. Analysis of DNA sequences of the outer surface protein C gene and rrs-rrlA intergenic spacer from extracts of Ixodes spp. ticks in 3 US regions showed linkage disequilibrium between the 2 loci within a region but not consistently between regions.