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Anaplasma phagocytophilum (formerly Ehrlichia phagocytophila, Ehrlichia equi and Anaplasma phagocytophila) is the causative agent of granulocytic ehrlichiosis (anaplasmosis) in humans, horses, sheep, cattle, dogs and cats. In the present study, 452 European sheep ticks (Ixodes ricinus) collected from 100 red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in Hungary were tested for the pathogen, as 112 pools each containing five or fewer ticks from one fox. Six of the pools, representing ticks from six different foxes, were found infected in the PCR-based test employed. This is the first time that A. phagocytophilum has been reported in Hungary. A summary of the information available from Central Eastern Europe on the prevalence of A. phagocytophilum in ticks, its seroprevalence in humans, and the number of human cases of granulocytic ehrlichiosis known in the region is presented.

Three common European 'anthrophilic' ticks, Ixodes ricinus, Haemaphysalis concinna and Dermacentor reticulatus, were collected in Hungary and tested, in assays based on nested PCR, for rickettsiae of the spotted-fever group. Low percentages of I. ricinus (2.7%) and H. concinna (1.0%) and a high percentage of D. reticulatus (26.8%) were found to be infected. The rickettsiae in the ticks were then identified, by sequencing of the genes coding for 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rDNA), citrate synthase (gltA) and the rOmpA outer-membrane protein (ompA), as Rickettsia helvetica, Rickettsia monacensis, Rickettsia sp. RpA4, or what is probably a newly recognized Rickettsia species ('Candidatus Rickettsia kotlanii'). These results raise the possibility that rickettsiae other than Rickettsia slovaca are involved in human disease in Hungary. Current knowledge on the distributions of the rickettsiae of the spotted-fever group that are emerging in Europe is also summarized.

Abstract. Fleas (95 Pulex irritans, 50 Ctenocephalides felis, 45 Ctenocephalides canis) and ixodid ticks (223 Ixodes ricinus, 231 Dermacentor reticulatus, 204Haemaphysalis concinna) were collected in Hungary and tested, in assays based on PCR, for Bartonella infection. Low percentages of P. irritans (4.2%) and C. felis (4.0%) were found to be infected. The groEL sequences of the four isolates from P. irritans were different from all the homologous sequences for bartonellae previously stored in GenBank but closest to those of Bartonella sp. SE-Bart-B (sharing 96% identities). The groEL sequences of the two isolates from C. felis were identical with those of the causative agents of cat scratch disease, Bartonella henselae and Bartonella clarridgeiae, respectively. The pap31 sequences of B. henselae amplified from Hungarian fleas were identical with that of Marseille strain. No Bartonella-specific amplification products were detected in C. canis, I. ricinus, D. reticulatus and H. concinna pools. In the past years, several previously unrecognised bacterial pathogens belonging to the genus Bartonella were also described from ticks and fleas, and several new clinical syndromes caused by these bacteria were reported (Greub and Raoult 2002, Jacomo et al. 2002. The tick and flea vectors of some of these bartonellae might be the sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus and the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis on the continent (Schouls et al. 1999, Rolain et al. 2003, Shaw et al. 2004. No information is available on the infection rate of other tick and flea species. Although bartonellae are widely distributed throughout Europe, limited information is available for Hungary (Tokodi et al. 2001). Herein we report Bartonella infection in two flea species from Hungary.Overall, 223 I. ricinus, 231 Dermacentor reticulatus, 204 Haemaphysalis concinna ticks, 95 human fleas (Pulex irritans) and 45 dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis) were removed from carcasses of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes), and overall, 50 cat fleas (C. felis) were collected from domestic cats (Felis catus f. domestica). Fox and cat carcasses were sent to the Central Veterinary Institute, Budapest for rabies examination. The transportation and storage of the carcasses and the methods used to collect and identify fleas found on them have