title: Rickettsia slovaca from Dermacentor marginatus ticks in Sardinia, Italy.
abstract: Nineteen ticks belonging to the species Dermacentor marginatus, Rhipicephalus bursa, and Haemaphysalis sulcata were collected from wild animals (wild boar, deer, and mouflon) in south-western Sardinia, Italy. Five D. marginatus ticks from wild boar were PCR-positive when analyzed using gltA-specific and ompA-specific primers, leading to the identification and first isolation in cell culture of Rickettsia slovaca, the causative agent of tick-borne lymphadenopathy (TIBOLA), on the island of Sardinia. This study confirms the detection of a new tick-borne rickettsia that can be added to the others already known to be present in Sardinia (Rickettsia aeschlimannii, R. massiliae, and Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae). These data increase our knowledge of tick-borne rickettsioses in Sardinia and, more generally, in the Mediterranean basin.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Sardegna, Sassari, Italy. giovanna.masala@izs-sardegna.it
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Masala
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chisu
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Satta
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Socolovschi
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Parola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D002950:Citrate (si)-Synthase / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000382:microbiology*; D007558:Italy; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000469:parasitology
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins; D002950:Citrate (si)-Synthase