A new tick-borne illness caused by the bacterium, Borrelia miyamotoi, has been confirmed in patients in northeast US states where Lyme disease is already endemic. “While many symptoms are similar to Lyme disease, patients also may experience other symptoms, such as relapsing fever,” says Peter Krause, senior research scientist at the School of Public Health and author of the study publlished in the New England Journal of Medicine. Futurity.