Rickettsia typhi in rodents and R. felis in fleas in Yucatán as a possible causal agent of undefined febrile cases.
Rickettsia typhi is the causal agent of murine typhus; a worldwide zoonotic and vector-borne infectious disease, commonly associated with the presence of domestic and wild rodents. Human cases of murine typhus in the state of Yucatán are frequent. However, there is no evidence of the presence of Rickettsia typhi in mammals or vectors in Yucatán. The presence of Rickettsia in rodents and their ectoparasites was evaluated in a small municipality of Yucatán using the conventional polymerase chain reaction technique and sequencing. The study only identified the presence of Rickettsia typhi in blood samples obtained from Rattus rattus and it reported, for the first time, the presence of R. felis in the flea Polygenis odiosus collected from Ototylomys phyllotis rodent. Additionally, Rickettsia felis was detected in the ectoparasite Ctenocephalides felis fleas parasitizing the wild rodent Peromyscus yucatanicus. This study's results contributed to a better knowledge of Rickettsia epidemiology in Yucatán.
Laboratorio de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitarias I, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México.
Gaspar
G
Peniche-Lara
Laboratorio de Enfermedades Emergentes y Re-emergentes, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México.
Karla
K
Dzul-Rosado
Laboratorio de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Parasitarias I, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México.
Carlos
C
Pérez-Osorio
Laboratorio de Enfermedades Emergentes y Re-emergentes, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales "Dr. Hideyo Noguchi", Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, México.
Jorge
J
Zavala-Castro
D000818:Animals; D004199:Disease Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D009115:Muridae; D010271:Parasites / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D041161:Rickettsia felis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012286:Rickettsia typhi / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012377:Rodentia / Q000382:microbiology*; D005423:Siphonaptera / Q000382:microbiology*; D014437:Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne / Q000635:transmission