One of the most effective ways to get rid of the Lyme bacterium in its wild hosts is to treat them with doxycycline. However, widespread use of doxycycline in animals runs the risk of causing the development of resistance—not just in the Lyme bacterium, but in other bacteria as well. Working together with Dr. Kim Lewis (Northeastern), we are developing narrow spectrum antibiotics to target the bacterium in the mouse reservoir.
Watch Dr. Linden Hu discuss how the laboratory is working to rid the wild of Lyme disease using novel antibiotics.