Treponematosis is a term used to individually describe any of the diseases caused by four members of the bacterial genus ''

Treponema ''Treponema'' is a genus of spiral-shaped bacteria. The major treponeme species of human pathogens is ''Treponema pallidum'', whose subspecies are responsible for diseases such as syphilis, bejel, and yaws. '' Treponema carateum'' is the caus ...

''. The four diseases are collectively referred to as treponematoses: * Syphilis (''Treponema pallidum pallidum'') *

Yaws Yaws is a tropical infection of the skin, bones, and joints caused by the spirochete bacterium ''Treponema pallidum pertenue''. The disease begins with a round, hard swelling of the skin, in diameter. The center may break open and form an ul ...

(''Treponema pallidum pertenue'') *

Bejel Bejel, or endemic syphilis, is a chronic skin and tissue disease caused by infection by the ''endemicum'' subspecies of the spirochete ''Treponema pallidum''. Bejel is one of the "endemic treponematoses" (endemic infections caused by spiral-shaped ...

(''Treponema pallidum endemicum'') * Pinta (''Treponema carateum'') Traditional laboratory tests cannot distinguish the treponematoses. However, sequence differences among the ''T. pallidum'' subspecies have been identified. Molecular approaches involving

PCR PCR or pcr may refer to: Science * Phosphocreatine, a phosphorylated creatine molecule * Principal component regression, a statistical technique Medicine * Polymerase chain reaction ** COVID-19 testing, often performed using the polymerase chain r ...

to identify these sequences are being developed.

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Spirochaetes Bacterium-related cutaneous conditions {{infectious-disease-stub