RGD uses the Human Disease Ontology (DO, https://disease-ontology.org/) for disease curation across species. RGD automatically downloads each new release of the ontology on a monthly basis. Some additional terms which are required for RGD's curation purposes but are not currently covered in the official version of DO have been added. As corresponding terms are added to DO, these custom terms are retired and the DO terms substituted in existing annotations and subsequently used for curation.
A primary bacterial infectious disease that results in infection located in skin, located in joint or located in bone, has_material_basis_in Treponema pallidum subsp pertenue, which is transmitted by direct skin contact with an infected person. The infection has symptom skin lesions. (DO)