Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks in Cyprus

Abstract

In two surveys conducted from March 1999 to March 2001 and from January 2004 to December 2006, a total of 3,950 ticks (belonging to ten different species) were collected from seven domestic and wild animals (goat, sheep, cattle, dog, fox, hare, and mouflon) from different localities throughout Cyprus. In order to establish their infection rate with Spotted Fever Rickettsiae (SFG), ticks were pooled and tested by polymerase chain reaction targeting gltA and ompA genes, followed by sequencing analysis. When tick pools tested positive, individual ticks were then tested one by one, and of the 3,950 ticks screened, rickettsial DNA was identified in 315 ticks (infection rate, 8%). Five SFG Rickettsiae were identified: Rickettsia aeschlimannii in Hyalomma marginatum marginatum, Rickettsia massiliae in Rhipicephalus turanicus and Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rickettsia sibirica mongolotimonae in Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum, and a Rickettsia endosymbiont of Haemaphysalis sulcata (later described as Rickettsia hoogstraalii) in Haemaphysalis punctata. Two additional genes, 17 kDa and ompB, were targeted to characterize a new genotype of "Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae" genotype in R. turanicus, designated here as "Candidatus Rickettsia barbariae" Cretocypriensis. These results confirm the presence of a spectrum of SFG Rickettsiae on the island. Further studies are necessary to gain better knowledge on the epidemiology of SFG Rickettsiae in Cyprus.

Importance of Common Wall Lizards in the Transmission Dynamics of Tick-Borne Pathogens in the Northern Apennine Mountains, Italy

“…Other reports from Europe refer to infection in Haemaphysalis spp. ticks: H. punctata and H. sulcata in Spain [29,39], H. punctata in Cyprus [3] and H. parva in Turkey [20,36]. In other continents, R. hoogstraalii was associated to soft ticks [8,19,33,37].…”

“…R. monacensis gltA and OmpA sequences and R. helvetica gltA sequence were 100% similar to reference sequences deposited in GenBank (KU310588, LN794217). We could amplify DNA fragments of R. hoogstraalii encoding for gltA and OmpB genes, but not [3,36]. Our gltA sequences, from both I. ricinus and H. sulcata (GenBank Accession No.…”

Identification of a Novel Uncultured Rickettsia Species Strain (Rickettsia Species Strain Tselenti) in Cyprus

“…16,17 In a recent study, five rickettsial species (R. aeschlimannii, R. massiliae, R. sibirica mongolotimonae, R. hoogstraalii, and "Candidatus R. barbariae") were detected and genetically characterized by using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) sequencing analysis in naturally infected hard ticks (n = 3,950) collected from domestic and wild animals. 18 Some Rickettsia species PCR-amplified DNA sequences have been compared with those of published Rickettsia spp. 18 We detected a Rickettsia species in Rhiphicephalus ticks (11 of 805, infection rate = 1.3%), collected from goats, hares and, sheep and in Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum ticks (5 of 301, infection rate = 1.6%) collected from sheep.…”

“…18 Some Rickettsia species PCR-amplified DNA sequences have been compared with those of published Rickettsia spp. 18 We detected a Rickettsia species in Rhiphicephalus ticks (11 of 805, infection rate = 1.3%), collected from goats, hares and, sheep and in Hyalomma anatolicum excavatum ticks (5 of 301, infection rate = 1.6%) collected from sheep. 18 In the current study, we report characterization of this rickettsial strain by PCR sequencing analysis of portions of the gltA, ompA, ompB, and 17-kD genes.…”

“…18 The Rr19070p-Rr190602n, targeting a 532-basepair portion of the ompA gene; BG1-21/BG2-20, targeting a 650-basepair portion of the ompB gene; and 17kdf/17kdr, targeting a 434-basepair portion of the 17kDa protein gene. [19][20][21][22] The four sets of primers were used in each of the 16 samples of the unrecognized Rickettsia sp.…”