Novel rickettsia in ticks, Tasmania, Australia.
A novel rickettsia was detected in Ixodes tasmani ticks collected from Tasmanian devils. A total of 55% were positive for the citrate synthase gene by quantitative PCR. According to current criteria for rickettsia speciation, this new rickettsia qualifies as Candidatus Rickettsia tasmanensis, named after the location of its detection.
Izzard
Leonard
L
Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, Victoria, Australia. leonardi@barwonhealth.org.au
Graves
Stephen
S
Cox
Erika
E
Fenwick
Stan
S
Unsworth
Nathan
N
Stenos
John
J
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008394:Marsupialia / Q000469:parasitology; D009758:Nymph; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013648:Tasmania / Q000453:epidemiology