lunes, 19 de abril de 2010

Rickettsiae in Gulf Coast Ticks | CDC EID


EID Journal Home > Volume 16, Number 5–May 2010

Volume 16, Number 5–May 2010
Dispatch
Rickettsiae in Gulf Coast Ticks, Arkansas, USA
Rebecca Trout, C. Dayton Steelman, Allen L. Szalanski, and Phillip C. Williamson
Author affiliations: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA (R. Trout, C.D. Steelman, A.L. Szalanski); and University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas, USA (P.C. Williamson)


Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To determine the cause of spotted fever cases in the southern United States, we screened Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum) collected in Arkansas for rickettsiae. Of the screened ticks, 30% had PCR amplicons consistent with Rickettsia parkeri or Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified Arkansas as a leading state for the incidence of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (causative agent Rickettsia rickettsii) and reported >15 cases per 1,000,000 persons in 2002 (1). Given the known cross-reactivity of serologic testing results for spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsia, it is unclear if cases outside the natural range of the vectors for R. rickettsii are misdiagnosed, if the pathogen is less virulent than previously suggested, or if additional rickettsiae are responsible for pathogenesis (2).

Recently, the Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) was identified as the primary vector of R. parkeri, a newly described pathogen that causes disease symptoms similar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever (3). R. parkeri has previously been identified in A. maculatum tick specimens collected in the southeastern United States (4) and from a human biopsy specimen in Virginia, USA (5). We have identified A. maculatum ticks collected from canids, felids, white-tailed deer, and a cow from locations throughout Arkansas (6). Notably, R. amblyommii has been identified as a potential pathogen and is found in lone star ticks (A. americanum) (7,8). We report the presence of DNA consistent with that of Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii and R. parkeri in A. maculatum ticks in Arkansas.

open here to see the full-text:
Rickettsiae in Gulf Coast Ticks | CDC EID

Suggested Citation for this Article
Trout R, Steelman CD, Szalanski AL, Williamson PC. Rickettsiae in Gulf Coast ticks, Arkansas, USA. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2010 May [date cited]. http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/16/5/830.htm

DOI: 10.3201/eid1605.091314

No hay comentarios:

Publicar un comentario