[2] It is the endemic causative agent of tick-borne relapsing fever in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and Madagascar.

It is transmitted by the soft-bodied tick Ornithodoros moubata which sheds the pathogen in its saliva and coxal fluid.

Humans appear to be the sole vertebrate host of B. duttoni, although chickens and pigs may be infected according to research performed in East Africa.

[3][4] Human disease is characterised by a long incubation period, numerous brief recurrences, and frequent ocular involvement.

[5] It is named after Joseph Everett Dutton, who died of the disease in 1905 while he and John Lancelot Todd were investigating "tick fever".