title: High rates of Rickettsia parkeri infection in Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum) and identification of "Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae" from Fairfax County, Virginia.
abstract: The Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, is a vector of Rickettsia parkeri, a recently identified human pathogen that causes a disease with clinical symptoms that resemble a mild form of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Because the prevalence of R. parkeri infection in geographically distinct populations of A. maculatum is not fully understood, A. maculatum specimens collected as part of a tick and pathogen surveillance system in Fairfax County, Virginia, were screened to determine pathogen infection rates. Overall, R. parkeri was found in 41.4% of the A. maculatum that were screened. Additionally, the novel spotted fever group Rickettsia sp., tentatively named "Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae," was observed for the first time in Virginia.
authors.affiliation: The W. Harry Feinstone Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205-2179, USA.
authors.forename: Christen M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Fornadel
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Joshua D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Paddock
authors.forename: Jorge R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Arias
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Norris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D030561:Databases, Nucleic Acid; D003670:Deer / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission; D017421:Sequence Analysis; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology; D014768:Virginia
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins