Table 3. Known and putative TBRF Borrelia spp. and their animal host(s) and transmitting tick species.
| Borrelia spp. causing TBRF (number of reported human cases with unequivocal species identification*) | Animal host(s) | Transmitting tick species |
| B. crocidurae (425) | Rodents, shrews | O. erraticus, O. sonrai |
| B. duttonii (141) | Chicken, pigs | O. moubata, O. porcinus |
| B. hermsii (616) | Chipmunks, deer, dogs, owls, rodents, squirrels | O. hermsii |
| B. hispanica (128) | Cats, cattle, dogs, hedgehogs, pigs, rodents, sheep, warblers | O. erraticus, O. marocanus, O. occidentalis |
| B. merionesi | ? | ? |
| B. microti (1) | Hedgehogs, rodents, toads | O. erraticus |
| B. miyamotoi (639) | Birds, cats, cattle, deer, dogs, hedgehogs, ponies, rodents, sheep, squirrels, wild boar | Am. americanum, D. reticulatus, D. variabilis, Ha. concinna, Ha. inermis, Ha. longicornis, Ha. punctata, I. dentatus, I. hexagonus, I. nipponensis, I. pacificus, I. pavlovskyi, I. persulcatus, I. ricinus, I. scapularis |
| B. neotropicalis (106) | ? | ? |
| B. obermeieri (1) | ? | ? |
| B. parkeri | Horses | O. parkeri |
| B. persica (415) | Camel, cat, cattle, dog, hyrax | O. tholozani |
| B. turicatae (4) | Birds, coyotes, dogs, foxes, rats, tortoises | C. capensis, C. kelleyi, O. turicata |
| Candidatus B. algerica (1) | ? | ? |
| Candidatus B. fainii (1) | Rodents | ? |
| Candidatus B. johnsonii (1) | Bats | C. kelleyi |
| Candidatus B. kalaharica (2) | ? | O. savigni |
| Borrelia spp. with yet unknown human-pathogenic potential | Animal host(s) | Transmitting tick species |
| B. anserina | Birds | Ar. minatus, Ar. persicus |
| B. baltazardii | ? | ? |
| B. brasiliensis | ? | O. brasiliensis |
| B. caucasica | ? | ? |
| B. coriaceae | Deer | O. coriaceus |
| B. dugesii | Rats | ? |
| B. graingeri | ? | O. graingeri |
| B. latyschewii | Birds | O. tartakovskyi |
| B. lonestari | Birds, deer, dogs | Am. americanum, C. capensis |
| B. lonestari-like | Deer | Ha. spp. |
| B. mazzottii | Rats | O. talaje |
| B. osphepa | ? | O. spheniscus |
| B. sogdiana | Rodents | O. papillipes |
| B. theileri | Bats, deer | Rh. geigyi |
| B. turcica | Birds, camels, cattle, tortoises | Am. aureolatum, Am. longirostre, Hy. aegyptium |
| B. venezuelensis | ? | O. rudis |
| Candidatus B. mvumi | ? | O. porcinus |
| Candidatus B. texasensis | Coyotes | D. variabilis |
| Unidentified Borrelia spp. | Bats, buffalos, cats, cattle, chipmunks, deer, dogs, lizards, penguins, rabbits, rodents, sheep, shrews, snakes, tortoises, turtles, wild boar | Multiple tick species |
Am., Amblyomma; Ar., Argas; B., Borrelia; C., Carios; D., Dermacentor; Ha, Haemaphysialis; Hy., Hyalomma; I., Ixodes; O., Ornithodoros; Rh., Rhipicephalus; spp., species (plural);?, unknown.
*In total, we found 9,372 reported cases of TBRF in the literature. The table contains only the unequivocally attributable (PCR confirmed) number of cases caused by the respective Borrelia species.