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.
Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory, Victoria, Australia. leonardi@barwonhealth.org.au
Leonard
L
Izzard
Stephen
S
Graves
Erika
E
Cox
Stan
S
Fenwick
Nathan
N
Unsworth
John
J
Stenos
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