Detection of Rickettsia in Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks and Ctenocephalides felis fleas from southeastern Tunisia by reverse line blot assay.
Ticks (n = 663) and fleas (n = 470) collected from domestic animals from southeastern Tunisia were screened for Rickettsia infection using reverse line blot assay. Evidence of spotted fever group Rickettsia was obtained. We detected Rickettsia felis in fleas, Rickettsia massiliae Bar 29 and the Rickettsia conorii Israeli spotted fever strain in ticks, and Rickettsia conorii subsp. conorii and Rickettsia spp. in both arthropods. The sensitivity of the adopted technique allowed the identification of a new association between fleas and R. conorii subsp. conorii species. The presence of these vector-borne Rickettsia infections should be considered when diagnosing this disease in humans in Tunisia.
Institut Pasteur de Tunis, Université Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Fatma
F
Khrouf
Youmna
Y
M'Ghirbi
Abir
A
Znazen
Mounir
M
Ben Jemaa
Adnene
A
Hammami
Ali
A
Bouattour
D000818:Animals; D001179:Arthropod Vectors; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D058251:Ctenocephalides / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D048508:Rhipicephalus sanguineus / Q000382:microbiology*; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014416:Tunisia
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins