title: Molecular detection of Bartonella quintana, B. koehlerae, B. henselae, B. clarridgeiae, Rickettsia felis, and Wolbachia pipientis in cat fleas, France.
abstract: The prevalences of Bartonella, Rickettsia, and Wolbachia were investigated in 309 cat fleas from France by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and sequencing with primers derived from the gltA gene for Rickettsia, the its and pap31 genes for Bartonella, and the 16S rRNA gene for Anaplasmataceae. Positive PCR results were confirmed by using the Lightcycler and specific primers for the rOmpB of Rickettsia and gltA of Bartonella. R. felis was detected in 25 fleas (8.1%), W. pipientis, an insect symbiont, in 55 (17.8%), and Bartonella in 81 (26.2%), including B. henselae (9/81; 11.1%), B. clarridgeiae (55/81; 67.9%), B. quintana (14/81; 17.3%), and B. koehlerae (3/81; 3.7%). This is the first report of the amplification of B. quintana from fleas and the first description of B. koehlerae in fleas from an area outside the United States. Cat fleas may be more important vectors of human diseases than previously reported.
authors.affiliation: Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Marc
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Rolain
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franc
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davoust
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001473:Bartonella / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002415:Cats; D017931:DNA Primers; D005602:France; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D041161:Rickettsia felis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers