Flea-borne Rickettsioses: Ecologic Considerations

Azad, Abdu F.; Radulović, Suzana; Higgins, James; Noden, Bruce H.; Troyer, Jill M.

doi:10.3201/eid0303.970308

Cited by 305 publications

(306 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…In addition, flea-borne organisms (e.g., Yersinia pestis, R. typhi, R. felis and B. henselae) are widely distributed throughout the world in endemic disease foci. In the United States, R. felis and R. typhi DNA has been found in cat fleas [2] which supports the possibility that fleas may co-transmit B. henselae and a Rickettsia spp. to dogs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Bartonella henselae IgG antibodies are prevalent in dogs from southeastern USA

et al. 2004

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-In contrast to the large body of literature regarding Bartonella henselae in humans and cats, there is little information about B. henselae as an infectious agent in dogs. Due to the paucity of information regarding the B. henselae serology in dogs, we performed a cross-sectional serosurvey using B. henselae antigen in order to compare the seroprevalence between sick and healthy dogs from the south-eastern USA. Ninety-nine sera were collected from clinically healthy dogs. Three hundred and one sera from sick dogs were submitted to North Carolina State University for serologic screening against a panel of arthropod-transmitted organisms. Serological tests were performed using B. henselae (Bh), Rickettsia rickettsii (Rr), Ehrlichia canis (Ec), Bartonella vinsonii subspecies berkhoffii (Bvb), Babesia canis (Bc) and Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) antigens. Serum B. henselae IgG antibodies were detected in 10.1% of healthy dogs and in 27.2% of sick dogs. The difference in seroprevalence between the two groups was statistically significant. The majority of seroreactive dogs (80%) had low titers of 1:64 or 1:128. In healthy dogs, seroprevalence for Rr was 14.1% and for Bvb was 1%. In sick dogs, Rr seroprevalence was 29.7%, Ec 6.5%, Bvb 4.7%, Bb 1.7% and Bc was 0.85%. Of the sick dogs that were seroreactive to B. henselae antigens, 40.6% were also seroreactive to Rr, 15.0% reactive to Bvb antigens, 14.8% reactive to Ec antigens, 1.8% reactive to Bc antigens and 1.75% reactive to Bb antigens. Sera from dogs experimentally infected with B. vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii, E. canis or R. rickettsii did not cross react with B. henselae antigens, by IFA testing. This study indicates that B. henselae IgG antibodies are prevalent in healthy and sick dogs living in the south-eastern USA. Nevertheless, further studies are needed to evaluate the epidemiological, clinical and zoonotic relevance of B. henselae infection in dogs.Bartonella henselae / dog / serology / vector-borne diseases

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 66%

Bartonella henselae IgG antibodies are prevalent in dogs from southeastern USA

et al. 2004

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“…For example, members of the typhus and spotted fever group Rickettsia cause flea-borne rickettsioses with the flea serving as the vector and reservoir. Rickettsia typhi, the etiological agent of murine typhus, is primarily maintained in the rat (Rattus spp) and rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) cycle; and a unique opossum/domestic cat and cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) cycle is implicated in transmission of murine typhus in the USA (reviewed in Azad et al, 1997). Spotted fever group Rickettsia are typically associated with ticks; however, there is increasing molecular evidence of one species, Rickettsia felis, in fleas including Ctenocephalides canis (Parola et al, 2003), Pulex irritans (Azad et al, 1997), Anomiopsyllus nudata (Stevenson et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rickettsia typhi, the etiological agent of murine typhus, is primarily maintained in the rat (Rattus spp) and rat flea (Xenopsylla cheopis) cycle; and a unique opossum/domestic cat and cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) cycle is implicated in transmission of murine typhus in the USA (reviewed in Azad et al, 1997). Spotted fever group Rickettsia are typically associated with ticks; however, there is increasing molecular evidence of one species, Rickettsia felis, in fleas including Ctenocephalides canis (Parola et al, 2003), Pulex irritans (Azad et al, 1997), Anomiopsyllus nudata (Stevenson et al, 2005). Although the list of arthropods infected with R. felis continues to grow, C. felis remains the primary arthropod host (Adams et al, 1990;Bouyer et al, 2001;La Scola et al, 2002;Pornwiroon et al, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although the list of arthropods infected with R. felis continues to grow, C. felis remains the primary arthropod host (Adams et al, 1990;Bouyer et al, 2001;La Scola et al, 2002;Pornwiroon et al, 2006). While R. felis is maintained in an opossum-flea cycle (Azad et al, 1997;Boostrom et al, 2002), there is also growing evidence that domestic cats also play a role in the maintenance cycle of R. felis (Wedincamp and Foil, 2000;Case et al, 2006). The impact of host meal source and/or composition on rickettsial transmission is not known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impact of host meal source and/or composition on rickettsial transmission is not known. Another ecological consideration for flea-borne rickettsial diseases is the observed experimental coinfection of both R. typhi and R. felis in the same flea (Noden et al, 1998), although the amount of overlap in naturally infected flea populations remains unclear (Azad et al, 1997;Wiggers et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comparative microbiota of Rickettsia felis-uninfected and -infected colonized cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis

et al. 2007

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Fleas serve as arthropod vectors for several emerging and re-emerging infectious disease causing agents including, Rickettsia felis. Although the prevalence of R. felis infection in colonies of fleas has been examined, the influence of the R. felis infection on flea microbiota has not been investigated. We identified three colonies of cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis, with varying prevalence of R. felis infection (Louisiana State University (LSU), 93.8%; Professional Laboratory and Research Services Inc. (PLRS), 16.4%; Elward II (EL), 0%) and subsequently utilized polymerase chain reaction amplification, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and sequencing of the 1.4-kb portions of 16S rRNA genes to examine the diversity of bacteria in the flea populations. A total of 17 different bacterial 16S rRNA gene sequences were identified among the C. felis colonies. The prevalence of two Wolbachia species that were identified in each flea colony differed between colonies and R. felis-uninfected and -infected fleas. Species richness was unchanged among the R. felis-uninfected (LSU, PLRS and EL colonies) and -infected (LSU and PLRS colonies) fleas; however, between R. felis-uninfected and -infected fleas within both the LSU and PLRS colonies, R. felisuninfected fleas have greater species richness. Diversity indices did not identify a difference in diversity between any of the flea samples. The interaction of endosymbionts within arthropods can widely impact the dissemination of vertically transmitted pathogenic bacteria; and the reciprocal may be true. These results suggest that carriage of R. felis has an impact on the richness of flea microbiota.

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Murine Typhus as a Common Cause of Fever of Intermediate Duration

Bernabéu-Wittel¹,

Pachón²,

Alarcón³

et al. 1999

Arch Intern Med

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Background: Fever of intermediate duration (FID), characterized by a febrile syndrome lasting from 7 to 28 days, is a frequent condition in clinical practice, but its epidemiological and etiologic features are not well described. Murine typhus (MT) is a worldwide illness; nevertheless, to our knowledge, no studies describing its epidemiological and clinical characteristics have been performed in the south of Spain. Also, its significance as a cause of FID is unknown.

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Flea-borne Rickettsioses: Ecologic Considerations

Cited by 305 publications

References 26 publications

Bartonella henselae IgG antibodies are prevalent in dogs from southeastern USA

Bartonella henselae IgG antibodies are prevalent in dogs from southeastern USA

Comparative microbiota of Rickettsia felis-uninfected and -infected colonized cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis

Murine Typhus as a Common Cause of Fever of Intermediate Duration

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