Rickettsia sp. strain RpA4 detected in Portuguese Dermacentor marginatus ticks.
Dermacentor marginatus species is the common vector of Rickettsia slovaca. Recently, a new rickettsia genotype, RpA4, was detected in several Dermacentor sp. ticks in several countries of the former Soviet Union and in Spain. In an epidemiological surveillance study, ninety-eight D. marginatus, collected in the South of Portugal in spring of 2003 and 2004, were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect Rickettsiae. Overall, 59.2% of the ticks were PCR-positive, among them 34.5% were proved to be infected with R. slovaca and 65.5% with Rickettsia sp. RpA4. This study reports for the first time a high prevalence of Rickettsia sp. RpA4 in D. marginatus in Portugal, pointing out for a wider geographic distribution of this genotype than previously reported.
Vitorino
Liliana
L
Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciàncias, Centro de Genética e Biologia Molecular and Instituto de Ciància Aplicada e Tecnologia, Edifício ICAT, Campus FCUL, Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal.
De Sousa
Rita
R
Bacellar
Fatima
F
Zé-Zé
Líbia
L
D000818:Animals; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000382:microbiology*; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000382:microbiology*; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D011174:Portugal; D015995:Prevalence; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*