A survey for spotted fever group rickettsiae and ehrlichiae in Amblyomma variegatum from St. Kitts and Nevis.
Eighty-nine Amblyomma variegatum ticks were collected from the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean and preserved in 70% ethanol or local rum. After being washed in sterile water, their DNA was extracted and analyzed by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for DNA of spotted fever group rickettsiae and ehrlichiae. None of the tested ticks was positive in a PCR assay using the primers 16S EHRD and 16S EHRR for the 16S rRNA gene of Ehrlichia spp.. Forty-one percent of the A. variegatum (36 of 89 of which 34 [47%] of 72 were adult males, 2 (13%) of 16 were adult females, and 0 (0%) of 1 were nymphs) were positive in a PCR assay using the primer pair 190-70 and 190-701 for the outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene of spotted fever group rickettsiae. All PCR amplification products obtained had 100% sequence homology with Rickettsia africae, the agent of African tick-bite fever.
Kelly
Patrick J
PJ
School of Veterinary Medicine, Ross University, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies.
Fournier
Pierre-Edouard
PE
Parola
Philippe
P
Raoult
Didier
D
D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004536:Ehrlichia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012287:Rickettsiaceae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019437:Saint Kitts and Nevis; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial