Conclusion
In our current study, we show a high proportion of wild European lagomorphs infected with TP eC/L, based on the detection of the pathogen’s DNA in genital swab and tissue materials (Table 1). Sequencing of the targeted gene loci revealed an unexpectedly high genetic diversity. The various types of repetitions in one of the two hypervariable regions at the tp0548 locus have not been described in the sister bacterium T. pallidum subsp. pallidum , the causative agent of human syphilis. This warrants further research on the functional aspects of repetitive units in the genome of TP eC/L. A revision of the MLST system is recommended once a substantial number of lagomorph infecting treponemes has been whole genome sequences.