Detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in human skin biopsies and dog synovial fluid by the polymerase chain reaction.

The polymerase chain reaction was used to amplify DNA sequences of the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, and was applied to the detection of the spirochete in humans and dogs. Oligonucleotide primers used in the reaction flank a 244-base-pair representing part of the variable region V4 of the B. burgdorferi 16S rRNA from biopsies of patients with acrodermatitis, and in synovial fluid from a dog with arthritis. These data suggest the presence of the disease in our state.