Detection of Rickettsia rickettsii in the tick Amblyomma cajennense in a new Brazilian spotted fever-endemic area in the state of Minas Gerais

Elizângela Guedes, Romário C. Leite, Márcia C.A. Prata, Richard C. Pacheco, David H. Walker, Marcelo B. Labruna

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

165 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study evaluated rickellsial infection in Amblyomma spp. ticks collected in a farm in Coronet Pacheco, a Brazilian spotted fever (BSF) endemic area. A total of 78 A. cajennense and 78 A. dubitatum free-living adult ticks were collected and tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting a fragment of the rickettsial gene gltA. Only one pool of three A. cajennense ticks showed the expected product by PCR. This pool was further tested by PCR using sets of primers targeting the rickettsial genes gltA, ompA, and ompB. All reactions yielded the expected bands that by sequencing, showed 100% identity to the corresponding sequences of the Rickcttsia rickcttsii gene fragments gltA (1063-bp), ompA (457-bp), and ompB (720-bp). The minimal infection rate of R. rickettii in the A. cajennense population was 1.28% (at least one infected tick within 78 ticks).The present study showed molecular evidence for the presence of R. rickettsii in A. cajennense a from a BSF-endemic area in Coronel Pacheco, state of Minas Gerais. Although R. rickettsii has been previously reported infecting A. cajennense ticks in Brazil and other Latin American countries, the present study performed the first molecular characterization of R. rickettsii from the tick A. cajennense.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)841-845
Number of pages5
JournalMemorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz
Volume100
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2005

Keywords

  • Amblyomma cajennense
  • Amblyomma dubitatum
  • Brazilian spotted fever
  • Rickettsia rickettsii

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Microbiology (medical)

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