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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 75(4), 2006, pp. 727-731
Copyright © 2006 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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MOLECULAR DETECTION OF RICKETTSIA FELIS, RICKETTSIA TYPHI AND TWO GENOTYPES CLOSELY RELATED TO BARTONELLA ELIZABETHAE

RITA DE SOUSA*, PIERRE EDOUARD-FOURNIER, MARGARIDA SANTOS-SILVA, FATIMA AMARO, FATIMA BACELLAR, AND DIDIER RAOULT
Centro de Estudos de Vectores e Doencas Infecciosa, Instituto Nacional de Saude Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av da Liberdade No 5, 2965 Aguas de Moura, Portugal; Unite des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48, Faculte de Medecine, Universite de la Mediterranee, Marseille, France

A total of 56 fleas were collected from mice, rats, and one hedgehog in national parks of mainland Portugal and the Madeira Island. All fleas were tested for the presence of bacteria of the genera Rickettsia and Bartonella using PCR assays. In fleas from mainland Portugal, we detected Rickettsia felis in one Archaeopsylla erinacei maura flea and in one Ctenophtalmus sp. In five Leptopsylla segnis fleas taken from rats in the Madeira Island, we identified Rickettsia typhi. In addition, in four fleas from the genera Ornithophaga and Stenoponia collect from mice and a rat in mainland Portugal, we detected the presence of two new Bartonella genotypes closely related to Bartonella elizabethae. Our findings emphasize the potential risk of flea-transmitted infections in mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago, and extend our knowledge of the potential flea vectors of human pathogens.

Received October 25, 2005. Accepted for publication May 5, 2006.

Acknowledgments: The authors thank Heather Stevenson for revisions made to the manuscript. Rita Marques de Sousa is an assistant researcher at the Center for Vectors and Infectious Diseases Research from the National Health Institute Dr. Ricardo Jorge Master in Public Health—Transmissible Diseases; her research has focused on rickettsial agents with human health importance.

* Address correspondence to Rita de Sousa, Centro de Estudos de Vectores e Doencas Infecciosa, Instituto Nacional de Saude Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av da Liberdade No 5, 2965 Aguas de Moura, Portugal. E-mail: rita.sousa{at}insa.min-saude.pt

Authors’ addresses: Rita De Sousa, Margarida Santos-Silva, Fatima Amaro, and Fatima Bacellar, Centro de Estudos de Vectores e Doencas Infecciosa, Instituto Nacional de Saude Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Av da Liberdade No 5, 2965 Aguas de Moura, Portugal; Unite des Rickettsies, CNRS UMR 6020, IFR 48. E-mails: rita.sousa{at}insa.min-saude.pt, masantossilva{at}yahoo.com.br, fatima.amaro{at}insa.min-saude.pt, and fatima.bacellar{at}insa.min-saude.pt. Pierre Edouard-Fournier and Didier Raoult, Faculte de Medecine, Universite de la Mediterranee, Marseille, France. E-mails: Pierre-Edouard.Fournier{at}medecine.univ-mrs.fr and didier.raoult{at}medecine.univ-mrs.fr.






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Copyright © 2006 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.