title: Spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks and fleas from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
abstract: Little is known about the prevalence of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae in ticks and fleas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2008, 12 Amblyomma compressum ticks were collected from 3 pangolins (Manis gigantea). Two Haemaphysalis punctaleachi ticks were collected from 2 African civets (Civettictis civetta congica), and one was collected from an antelope (Onotragus leche). A total of 111 Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks, 23 Ctenocephalides canis fleas, 39 C. felis fleas, and 5 Trichodectes canis lice were sampled from 19 dogs. One C. canis flea was collected from a human. Six of the 12 A. compressum ticks were positive for rickettsial DNA, as determined by genus-specific qPCR. The ompA gene sequences amplified from positive samples showed 100% homology with Rickettsia africae (GenBank accession number CP001612). The detection of Ri. africae in A. compressum ticks, which are highly specialized parasites of pangolins, is consistent with our previous data showing the presence of Ri. africae in A. compressum ticks from Liberia. No other ticks contained rickettsial DNA. A total of 9 C. canis fleas (39%, 9/23) and 37 C. felis fleas (95%, 37/39) that was collected from dogs and one C. canis flea collected from a human harbored Ri. felis.
authors.affiliation: Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, WHO Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod Borne Bacterial Diseases, 27 bd Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 5, France.
authors.forename: Oleg
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mediannikov
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Davoust
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Socolovschi
authors.forename: Léon
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tshilolo
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; D058251:Ctenocephalides / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D004478:Ectoparasitic Infestations / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary; D058326:Ischnocera / Q000382:microbiology*; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D008322:Mammals; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins