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A vernacular term used to refer to any organism resembling a Leptospira, Spirochaeta, or Treponema cell.
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spi·ro·chete or chiefly Brit spi·ro·chaete 'spī-rə-.kēt n any bacterium of the order Spirochaetales including those causing syphilis and relapsing fever
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spi·ro·chete (spiґro-kēt) [spiro-1 + Gr. chaitē hair] a spiral bacterium; a general term for any microorganism of the order Spirochaetales; it includes the common pathogenic genera Borrelia, Leptospira, and Treponema.Medical dictionary. 2011.