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SPOTTED FEVER GROUP RICKETTSIAE IN TICKS FROM THE MASAI MARA REGION OF KENYA

We have identified for the first time Rickettsia africae, and the ticks that harbored them, in Kenya. A total of 5,325 ticks were collected from vegetation, livestock, and wild animals during two field trips to southwestern Kenya. Most were immature forms (85.2%) belonging to the genera Amblyomma or Rhipicephalus. The adults also included representatives from the genus Boophilus. Ticks were assessed for rickettsial DNA by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using primers for the spotted fever group (SFG)–specific rickettsial outer membrane protein A (rompA) gene, and positive amplicons were sequenced. While none of the immature ticks tested positive by PCR, 15.8% of the adult Amblyomma variegatum and less than 1% of the Rhipicephalus spp. were SFG positive. Sequences of amplified products were identified as R. africae. These findings extend the known range of R. africae.

Received October 22, 2002. Accepted for publication January 15, 2003.

Acknowledgment: We thank Norm Peterson for his assistance with this project.

Financial support: This work was supported in part by The National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (Washington, DC). Uzma Alam received a predoctoral fellowship from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and Kenya Medical Research Institute (Nairobi, Kenya).

Authors’ addresses: Kevin R. Macaluso, Uzma Alam, and Abdu F. Azad, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD 21201. Jon Davis, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814-4799. Amy Korman, U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine-Europe Department of Environmental Sciences, CMR 402, APO AE 09180. Jeremiah S. Rutherford, St. George’s University, School of Medicine, St. George’s, Grenada, West Indies. Ronald Rosenberg, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD 20707-5138.

Reprint requests: Kevin R. Macaluso, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, 655 West Baltimore Street, Bressler Research Building, Room 13-009, Baltimore, MD 21201, Telephone: 410-706-7066, Fax: 410-706-0282, E-mail: kmaca001{at}umaryland.edu

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