title: Candidatus 'Rickettsia senegalensis' in cat fleas in Senegal.
abstract: Epidemiological studies of Rickettsia felis and related bacteria are very important, because the natural cycle of this important infection has not yet been established. The recent emergence of R. felis-associated febrile diseases in West and East Africa demands insightful epidemiological studies of the vectors and reservoirs of this bacterium in Africa. Twenty-nine cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, were tested for the presence of rickettsiae, including R. felis, bartonellae, and borreliae, with specific quantitative real-time PCR assays. Supporting our previous studies, R. felis was not detected in the fleas collected. In addition, neither Bartonella nor Borrelia was found. In five (17%) examined fleas, we found another species of rickettsia. We isolated three rickettsial strains, and genetic analysis demonstrated that these strains represent a probable new species, provisionally called Candidatus Rickettsia senegalensis here.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, Marseille, France ; Aix-Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Mediannikov
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, Dakar, Senegal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aubadie-Ladrix
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE) UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198, Inserm 1095, Marseille, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
keywords: Africa; Candidatus Rickettsia senegalensis; Rickettsia; Rickettsia felis; Senegal; flea