title: Candidatus Ehrlichia walkerii: a new Ehrlichia detected in Ixodes ricinus tick collected from asymptomatic humans in Northern Italy.
abstract: Ixodes ricinus harbors many infectious agents pathogenic for humans. A cause of fever is found in less than 50% of patients exposed to ticks. Investigations on 359 Ixodes ticks removed from asymptomatic patients in Northern Italy revealed the presence of a new ehrlichial agent in 10 ticks. Comparison of the 16S rRNA and the gltA gene sequences showed the organism is most closely related to Ehrlichia ruminantium. We propose this new Ehrlichia be named "candidatus Ehrlichia walkerii."
authors.affiliation: Unité des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine,13385 Marseille cedex 5 France. philippe.brouqui@medecine.univ-mrs.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brouqui
authors.forename: Y O
authors.initials: YO
authors.lastname: Sanogo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Caruso
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Merola
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000235:genetics; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S