title: Experimental infection of Rhipicephalus sanguineus with Ehrlichia chaffeensis.
abstract: Ehrlichia chaffeensis, the etiologic agent of human monocytic ehrlichiosis, is a tick-borne rickettsial pathogen that is infective to a wide range of mammals, including dogs and people. Amblyomma americanum, the lone star tick, is considered the primary vector of E. chaffeensis, but this pathogen has been detected in other tick species, including the brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. We hypothesized that the Arkansas strain of E. chaffeensis is infective to R. sanguineus, and used a novel PCR assay to test for acquisition of this pathogen by R. sanguineus and A. americanum ticks that were simultaneously fed on experimentally infected dogs. Although E. chaffeensis was not frequently detected in peripheral blood of these dogs, the pathogen was detected in both tick species and in canine lung, kidney, lymph node, bone marrow and frontal lobe samples. One dog (AFL) was maintained for several years, and ticks again acquired E. chaffeensis from this dog 566 days after intradermal inoculation with E. chaffeensis, but the pathogen was not detected in ticks fed on the same dog at 764 or 1086 days after the intradermal inoculation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Stoffel
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Jennifer C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: McClure
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Marion M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Butcher
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Gayle C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine Infectious Disease Division, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Roland
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
authors.forename: Chuanmin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
authors.forename: Kamesh R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Sirigireddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ganta
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Preventive Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Kirstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Boughan
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ewing
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA. Electronic address: stichrw@missouri.edu.
authors.forename: Roger W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Stich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004199:Disease Vectors; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000635:transmission; D004285:Dogs; D018469:Ehrlichia chaffeensis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D048508:Rhipicephalus sanguineus / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Dogs; Ehrlichia chaffeensis; Rhipicephalus sanguineus