Clinicians should be aware of the potential risk of this new Candidatus Rickettsia sp. and keep in mind other flea-borne infections since these flea species frequently bite humans.

BackgroundFlea-borne infections are distributed worldwide. Up to date there are no reports about microorganisms associated to fleas in Ecuador.MethodsSeventy-one Pulex irritans and 8 Ctenocephalides felis fleas were removed from dogs in two Ecuadorian areas (Pastaza and Chimborazo Provinces) in December 2012. DNA extracts were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays targeting universal 16S rRNA, as well as screened for the presence of Rickettsia spp. (gltA, htrA, ompB, sca4 and ompA genes) and Bartonella spp. (rpoB, gltA and ITS genes).ResultsOur results showed the presence of ‘Candidatus Rickettsia asemboensis’ (highly similar to R. felis) in C. felis and Wolbachia spp. endosimbionts in P. irritans collected from animals in Ecuador. No fleas were found to be positive for any Bartonella species or Yersinia pestis.ConclusionsClinicians should be aware of the potential risk of this new Candidatus Rickettsia sp. and keep in mind other flea-borne infections since these flea species frequently bite humans.

We provide new data for the ticks Amblyomma multipunctum and Amblyomma naponense from Ecuador. In addition, we describe the nymph of A. multipunctum for the first time. During December 2012, ticks were collected by dragging in forest trails of 1 locality at Puyo, Pastaza Province (elevation 979 m), and another locality at Papallacta, Napo Province (3,474 m). A total of 10 adults of A. naponense were collected at Puyo, whereas 27 adults and 3 nymphs of A. multipunctum were collected at Papallacta. Compared to sequences of a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rDNA gene of adult and nymphal ticks, the sequence of an Amblyomma nymph was identical to the sequences generated from the A. multipunctum adults. The 3 collected nymphs (including the 1 used for molecular analysis) had the same morphotype, and were used for the first morphological description of the nymphal stage of A. multipunctum. Sequences generated from the A. naponense specimens were closest (97% identity by BLAST) to a corresponding sequence of A. naponense from Brazil, whereas the A. multipunctum sequences were closer to (90-91% identity) several Neotropical Amblyomma species. Herein, we provide just the second record of A. naponense in Ecuador, more than 100 yr after this tick was reported in this country. Adults and nymphs of A. multipunctum were found in highland, humid montane forest areas, in agreement with the only 2 previous reports of A. multipunctum in Ecuador and Colombia. No genetic differences were found among A. multipunctum ticks that presented significant morphological differences, suggesting intraspecific polymorphism in the adult stages of this species.