Rickettsia raoultii, the predominant Rickettsia found in Dermacentor silvarum ticks in China-Russia border areas.
Since the year 2000, clinical patterns resembling tick-borne rickettsioses have been noticed in China-Russia border areas. Epidemiological data regarding species of the aetiological agent, tick vector prevalence and distribution as well as incidence of human cases in the areas are still sparse to date. In order to identify Rickettsia species occurring in the areas, we investigated Dermacentor silvarum collected in the selected areas. Rickettsia raoultii was the predominant Rickettsia found in D. silvarum evident with ompA, ompB, gltA and 17 kDa protein genes. The Rickettsia prevalence in D. silvarum appeared to be 32.25 % with no sex difference. The results extend the common knowledge about the geographic distribution of R. raoultii and its candidate vector tick species, which suggest an emerged potential threat of human health in the areas.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, China, wenjing19830726@yahoo.com.
Jing
J
Wen
Dan
D
Jiao
Jian-Hua
JH
Wang
De-Hai
DH
Yao
Zhi-Xiang
ZX
Liu
Gang
G
Zhao
Wen-Dong
WD
Ju
Cheng
C
Cheng
Yi-Jing
YJ
Li
Yi
Y
Sun
D000818:Animals; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D002950:Citrate (si)-Synthase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D003870:Dermacentor / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D012426:Russia / Q000453:epidemiology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*
D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C078167:OMPA outer membrane proteins; D002950:Citrate (si)-Synthase