title: Rickettsial infection in Ixodes ricinus ticks in urban and natural habitats of Slovakia.
abstract: A total of 1810 Ixodes ricinus ticks was collected from the vegetation from 2 different habitat types: urban and natural. Urban habitats were represented by cemeteries and public parks in the following towns: Bratislava, Malacky, and Martin at 150 m and 400 m above sea level. Natural habitats were selected in the mountain forest of the Martinské hole Mts. in Central Slovakia at 3 different altitudinal levels, i.e. 600 m, 800 m and 1000 ma.s.l. All ticks were tested for the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae. The DNA of Rickettsia spp. was identified in 9% of all tested ticks. Rickettsia-infected ticks were present in both, urban and sylvatic sites at all studied altitudes. Four different species of Rickettsia were present in positive I. ricinus ticks. Rickettsia helvetica was identified in 77 out of 87 Rickettsia-positive I. ricinus ticks, followed by 8 samples that belonged to Rickettsia monacensis and 2 of the positive ticks were infected with different unidentified Rickettsia spp. Due to the association of R. helvetica and R. monacensis with human infections, it is essential to understand which species of Rickettsia circulate in the natural foci of Slovakia. Circulation of pathogenic rickettsiae in urban as well as natural habitats at different altitudinal levels in Slovakia emphasizes that infection risk is very common throughout this Central European country.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 845 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Electronic address: eva.spitalska@savba.sk.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Špitalská
authors.affiliation: HPL (Ltd) Medical Laboratories, Department of Parasitology, Istrijská 20, 841 07 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Vojtech
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Boldiš
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic; Institute of Parasitology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Hlinkova 3, 040 01 Košice, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Markéta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Derdáková
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Selyemová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravska cesta 9, 845 06 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rusňáková Tarageľová
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D018884:Ixodes / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D018154:Slovakia
keywords: Candidatus Rickettsia sp. strain IRS4; Ixodes ricinus; Rickettsia helvetica; Rickettsia monacensis; Slovak Republic