title: First molecular evidence of new Bartonella spp. in fleas and a tick from Peru.
abstract: Fleas, lice, and ticks collected in Peru in a suburban area of Cusco in November 1998 were tested by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of Bartonella DNA using primers amplifying a fragment of the intergenic spacer region (ITS) gene. Three new Bartonella genotypes were detected in Pulex fleas self-collected from the beds and clothes of schoolchildren and adults. A fourth new genotype was also detected from a tick found on a sheep in the same area. One of the genotypes is closely related to B. vinsoni subsp. berkhoffii, and the others seem to originate from unknown Bartonella species, whose medical importance has yet to be clarified.
authors.affiliation: Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Parola
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shpynov
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.forename: Martha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Houpikian
authors.forename: Zaher
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zeaiter
authors.forename: Humberto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001473:Bartonella / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D021901:DNA, Intergenic / Q000235:genetics; D004199:Disease Vectors; D004285:Dogs; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D010568:Peru; D008003:Phthiraptera / Q000382:microbiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012756:Sheep; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D013552:Swine; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D021901:DNA, Intergenic