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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 77(2), 2007, pp. 376-377
Copyright © 2007 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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SHORT REPORT


Detection of Rickettsia africae in Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus Ticks from the Republic of Botswana, South Africa

Aránzazu Portillo, Laura Pérez-Martínez, Sonia Santibáñez, José R. Blanco, Valvanera Ibarra, AND José A. Oteo*
Área de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro-Centro de Investigacíon Biomédica de La Rioja (CIBIR), Logroño, Spain

 

ABSTRACT

A total of 53 engorged adult ticks belonging to the species Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) decoloratus (N = 9), Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi (N = 27), Rhipicephalus appendiculatus (N = 9), Amblyomma hebraeum (N = 5), and Hyalomma marginatum turanicum (N = 3), were removed from oryx in Botswana (South Africa). They were tested for the presence of spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia and Anaplasma phagocytophilum using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Seventy-seven percent of R. decoloratus as well as twenty percent of A. hebraeum were positive for ompA, gltA and 16S rRNA SFG Rickettsia PCR assays. All nucleotide sequences were homologous to Rickettsia africae, the agent of African tick-bite fever (ATBF). None of the tested ticks was positive for 16S rRNA A. phagocytophilum PCR assays. These results suggest for the first time that R. decoloratus ticks may be reservoirs of R. africae, and support the ATBF risk in this area.

Received December 27, 2006. Accepted for publication May 8, 2007.

Acknowledgments: We are very grateful to Agustín Estrada-Peña and José Manuel Venzal (University of Zaragoza, Spain) for their contribution to the classification of African ticks.

Financial support: This study was partly supported by grants from the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (G03/057 and PI051460), Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, Spain.

* Address correspondence to José A. Oteo, Área de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro. C/Piqueras, 98-7a N.E.; 26006 Logroño (La Rioja), Spain. E-mail: jaoteo{at}riojasalud.es

Authors’ addresses: Aránzazu Portillo, Laura Pérez-Martínez, Sonia Santibáñez, José R. Blanco, Valvanera Ibarra, and José A. Oteo, Área de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Hospital San Pedro–Centro de Investigacion Biomédica de La Rioja (CIBIR), C/Piqueras, 98; 26006 Logroño (La Rioja), Spain.






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Copyright © 2007 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.