title: Rickettsial infection in ticks infesting wild birds from two eco-regions of Argentina.
abstract: Several tick-borne Rickettsia species are recognized human pathogens in Argentina. Here we evaluated rickettsial infection in ticks collected on passerine birds during 2011-2012 in two eco-regions of Argentina. The ticks were processed by molecular analysis through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection and DNA sequencing of fragments of two rickettsial genes, gltA and ompA. A total of 594 tick specimens (532 larvae and 62 nymphs), representing at least 4 species (Amblyomma tigrinum, Ixodes pararicinus, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris), were evaluated. At least one A. tigrinum larva, collected on Coryphospingus cucullatus in Chaco Seco, was infected with Rickettsia parkeri, whereas at least 12 larvae and 1 nymph of I. pararicinus, collected from Troglodytes aedon, Turdus amaurochalinus, Turdus rufiventris, C. cucullatus and Zonotrichia capensis, were infected with an undescribed Rickettsia agent, genetically related to several rickettsial endosymbionts of ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. R. parkeri is a recognized human pathogen in several American countries including Argentina, where a recent study incriminated A. tigrinum as the potential vector of R. parkeri to humans. Birds could play an important role in dispersing R. parkeri-infected A. tigrinum ticks. Additionally, we report for the first time a rickettsial agent infecting I. pararicinus ticks.
authors: Instituto de Virología "Dr. J. M. Vanella", Facultad Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - UNC, Ciudad Universitaria, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: Fernando Sebastián
authors: FS
authors: Flores
authors: Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors: Francisco Borges
authors: FB
authors: Costa
authors: Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela - EEA, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria - INTA, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET, Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina.
authors: Santiago
authors: S
authors: Nava
authors: Instituto de Virología "Dr. J. M. Vanella", Facultad Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - UNC, Ciudad Universitaria, Córdoba, Argentina.|Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - CONICET, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales - FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba - UNC, Córdoba, Argentina.
authors: Luiz Adrián
authors: LA
authors: Diaz
authors: Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors: Marcelo Bahia
authors: MB
authors: Labruna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001118:Argentina; D001717:Birds / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology*