title: Presence of Coxiella burnetii in fleas in Cyprus.
abstract: Over 40 tick species are naturally infected by Coxiella burnetii. However, little is known about the presence of C. burnetii in other ectoparasites such as fleas. During a 6-year (2000-2006) study, 1147 fleas were collected from 652 animals (252 rats, 118 foxes, and 282 hares) captured from different areas of Cyprus. Three flea species-Xenopsylla cheopis, Ctenocephalides felis, and C. canis-were identified. Fleas were pooled (153 pools) and tested by PCR for the presence of C. burnetii. The pathogen was identified in 25 (16.3%) pools. None of the fleas parasitizing hares was positive for C. burnetii, as opposed to fleas collected from rats (12% pool positivity) and foxes (47.6% pool positivity). The highest prevalence of positive pools was recorded in C. canis (38%) compared to C. felis (16.6%) and X. cheopis (10.8%). All pools of C. canis positive for C. burnetii were removed from foxes (44.4%), whereas all positive X. cheopis (10.8%) were removed from rats. The role of fleas in the maintenance and transmission of C. burnetii among wild vertebrates remains to be determined.
authors.affiliation: 1 Laboratory of Clinical Bacteriology, Parasitology, Zoonoses and Geographical Medicine, Medical School, University of Crete , Heraklion, Greece .
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Psaroulaki
authors.forename: Dimosthenis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chochlakis
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ioannou
authors.forename: Emmanouil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Angelakis
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tselentis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003535:Cyprus / Q000453:epidemiology; D058267:Flea Infestations / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D005589:Foxes / Q000469:parasitology*; D034621:Hares / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D011778:Q Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary; D051381:Rats / Q000469:parasitology*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000145:classification / Q000382:microbiology*; D015047:Zoonoses
keywords: Coxiella burnetii; Cyprus.; Fleas