Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Dolli Lane, a 96th Medical Group laboratory technician, reviews a sample through the microscope Nov.19, 2015, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Lane spotted a rare spirally twisted bacteria when reviewing a sick patient’s malaria smear. The sample provided by the 96th MDG lab was the first human blood sample of a spirochete bacteria, known to cause tick-borne relapsing fever, to be cultured at the Centers for Disease Control. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ilka Cole)Dolli Lane, a 96th Medical Group laboratory technician, reviews a sample through the microscope Nov.19, 2015, at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Lane spotted a rare spirally twisted bacteria when reviewing a sick patient’s malaria smear. The sample provided by the 96th MDG lab was the first human blood sample of a spirochete bacteria, known to cause tick-borne relapsing fever, to be cultured at the Centers for Disease Control. (U.S. Air Force photo/Ilka Cole)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res
        


        The 96th Medical Group’s laboratory provided the first human blood sample of a spirochete bacteria, Borrelia turicatae, known to cause tick-borne relapsing fever, to be cultured at the Centers for Disease Control. (Courtesy photo)The 96th Medical Group’s laboratory provided the first human blood sample of a spirochete bacteria, Borrelia turicatae, known to cause tick-borne relapsing fever, to be cultured at the Centers for Disease Control. (Courtesy photo)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Eglin medical group first to find bacteria unseen in humansPublished Jan. 13, 2016
                    
                    By Ilka Cole
                    
                    
                    Eglin Air Force Base Public Affairs
            **EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) --**The 96th Medical Group's laboratory provided the first human blood sample of a spirochete bacteria, known to cause tick-borne relapsing fever, to be cultured at the Centers for Disease Control.The bacteria, Borrelia turicatae, had previously only been cultured in animals, according to Maj. (Dr.) Benjamin Stermole, Eglin Air Force Base’s infectiologist.The rare spirally twisted bacteria was found after a primary care doctor ordered a malaria smear sample for a sick Soldier. After review of the patient's blood sample, Dolli Lane, a 96th MDG laboratory technician, realized she had something unusual and alerted others.What she noticed, when scanning a red blood cell sample looking for malaria, was one spirochete was outside the red blood cells. At first, Lane said she wasn't sure what she was looking at.She found a few more spirochetes and decided to pull reference materials and bring in another lab technician to verify what she was seeing."It was unusual because you wouldn't see this bacteria in the blood we were reading," Lane said.Staff Sgt. Christopher Boyd, the 96th MDG hematology lab section chief, said the spirochete bacteria could have easily been overlooked. It is not typically spotted using the particular slide stain used.In addition, spirochetes are only visible if the blood sample is drawn during a patient's fever spike. The fever is brought on due to increased bacteria volume in the body, according to Stermole."I thought, 'maybe what she (Lane) saw was caused by one of the substances used to make the slide,'" Boyd said. "When I saw the spirochete slide, it was consistent with that type of bacteria. That's what tipped us off to look into this further."To find a definitive answer about the bacteria, the hospital's head microbiologist, pathologist and infectious disease doctors evaluated the sample. It was decided that the base’s lab technicians would send the samples to the CDC to test the bacteria's DNA."We don't have the equipment needed to identify the bacteria here and neither do our reference labs. It had to be sent to a research lab and CDC is generally the place for anything not available at commercial reference labs," Stermole said.Boyd immediately contacted the CDC to explain the case and emailed photos of what was found under the microscope. As a result, the CDC accepted the samples for review."This infection doesn't happen very often. The ability to culture this bacteria allows us to study it on a level we haven't been able to before," Stermole said. "The cultures can be tested against different antibiotics to learn which ones are effective.“We can also use this human isolate in animal models to see if it acts the same way as previous isolates, which may be found to be different subspecies,” he continued. “Essentially, we can prove the animal models can adequately represent human infections. There is a lot of information to be gathered after a bacteria DNA is cultured."Within days, the CDC contacted the patient's doctor, the pathologist and the infectious disease doctor. Soon after, they learned the bacteria was Borrelia turicatae.The affected Soldier contracted the bacteria from a tick bite while living in an old stable during a field exercise in West Texas.After the infection identification, the patient was given the correct antibiotic and showed almost 100 percent improvement within 24 hours.medical 



Eglin AFB 



science 



96th Medical Group Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil