Borrelia is a bacterium that causes Lyme disease. Lyme disease is caused by a tick bite, the bacteria can cause inflammation in the joints and in the brain. Not everyone from Lyme disease gets the same symptoms, possible symptoms can include discoloration of the skin, fever, muscle pain, nerve problems and heart problems. Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics. There are 15 types of borrelia bacteria worldwide, not all strains cause Lyme disease. There are also strains of bacteria that cause no symptoms or infections at all when infected.

Borrelia uses tick saliva proteins to effect an early infection of the host. There is a difference in the sensitivity of detection of the Borrelia detection to the stages in which the bacterium is found. If the Borrelia bacterium has just been established, the sensitivity of the PCR tests is between 60-80 percent. If the Borrelia bacterium has been present in the body for some time and is then detected, the sensitivity is 100 percent. This Borrelia PCR kit uses the amplification of the 16S rRNA gene that all pathogenic Borrelia strains possess, this PCR amplicon is 457/358 base pairs long.