Spirochetes are a type of bacteria. Some spirochetes cause illnesses and some don't. Some are found in humans and some aren't. They are very slender and long and often look like corkscrews or spirals when viewed microscopically. They are difficult to see under a standard light microscope, so dark field microscopy must be used to view them. Spirochetes are also very difficult to grow in culture and some cannot be cultivated at all. Some spirochetes inhabit water environments, while others are parasites of arthropods (such as ticks and lice) as well as warm-blooded animals like us. Spirochetes that cause diseases include Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), the agent of Lyme disease, Treponema pallidum, the cause of syphilis, and Leptospira interrogans, the agent of leptospirosis.
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| Borrelia burgdorferi viewed with flourescent antibody stain |
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