Tick-borne rickettsiae in Guinea and Liberia.
While the high seroprevalence for the rickettsiae that cause spotted fevers and the multiple pathogenic rickettsiae is known, the data on the distribution of rickettsial diseases in Africa are often incomplete. We collected ticks from domestic or wild animals (generally a source of bushmeat) that were in contact with humans in 2 neighboring countries of tropical West Africa, Guinea and Liberia. In total, 382 ticks representing 6 species were collected in Liberia and 655 ticks representing 7 species were collected in Guinea. We found rickettsiae in 9 different species of ticks from both countries. Rickettsia africae was found in 93-100% of Amblyomma variegatum, in 14-93% of Rhipicephalus (B.) geigyi, Rh. (B.) annulatus, and Rh. (B.) decoloratus, and in several Hyalomma marginatum rufipes and Haemaphysalis paraleachi. A genetic variant of R. africae was found in Amblyomma compressum. R. massiliae was found in 10/61 (16%) of Rh. senegalensis ticks and in 2% of Haemaphysalis paraleachi ticks collected from dogs. We identified a new rickettsia in one of 44 (2%) Ixodes muniensis collected from a dog in Liberia. As this rickettsia is not yet isolated, we propose the provisional name "Candidatus Rickettsia liberiensis" (for the West African country where the host tick was collected).
Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes, UMR CNRS 6236, IRD 198, Université de la Méditerranée, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France.
Oleg
O
Mediannikov
Georges
G
Diatta
Yah
Y
Zolia
Mamadou Cellou
MC
Balde
Henry
H
Kohar
Jean-François
JF
Trape
Didier
D
Raoult
D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000835:Animals, Wild; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D016701:Guinea / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*; D007988:Liberia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity; D013984:Tick Infestations / Q000150:complications; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial