A SURVEY FOR SPOTTED FEVER GROUP RICKETTSIAE AND EHRLICHIAE IN AMBLYOMMA VARIEGATUM FROM ST. KITTS AND NEVIS

PATRICK J. KELLY School of Veterinary Medicine, Ross University, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies; Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

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PIERRE-EDOUARD FOURNIER School of Veterinary Medicine, Ross University, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies; Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

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PHILIPPE PAROLA School of Veterinary Medicine, Ross University, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies; Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

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DIDIER RAOULT School of Veterinary Medicine, Ross University, Basseterre, St. Kitts, West Indies; Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France

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Eighty-nine Amblyomma variegatum ticks were collected from the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean and preserved in 70% ethanol or local rum. After being washed in sterile water, their DNA was extracted and analyzed by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for DNA of spotted fever group rickettsiae and ehrlichiae. None of the tested ticks was positive in a PCR assay using the primers 16S EHRD and 16S EHRR for the 16S rRNA gene of Ehrlichia spp. Forty-one percent of the A. variegatum (36 of /89 of which 34 [47%] of 72 were adult males, 2 (13%) of 16 were adult females, and 0 (0%) of 1 were nymphs) were positive in a PCR assay using the primer pair 190-70 and 190-701 for the outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene of spotted fever group rickettsiae. All PCR amplification products obtained had 100% sequence homology with Rickettsia africae, the agent of African tick-bite fever.

Author Notes

Reprint requests: Didier Raoult, Unité des Rickettsies, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France, Telephone: 33-4-91-38-55-17, Fax: 33-4-91-38-77-72, E-mail: didier.raoult@medecine.univ-mrs.fr
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