Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae, a spotted fever group agent infecting Amblyomma parvum ticks in two Brazilian biomes

Abstract

Adult ticks of the species Amblyomma parvum were collected from the vegetation in the Pantanal biome (state of Mato Grosso do Sul) and from horses in the Cerrado biome (state of Piauí) in Brazil. The ticks were individually tested for rickettsial infection via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting three rickettsial genes, gltA, ompA and ompB. Overall, 63.5% (40/63) and 66.7% (2/3) of A. parvum ticks from Pantanal and Cerrado, respectively, contained rickettsial DNA, which were all confirmed by DNA sequencing to be 100% identical to the corresponding fragments of the gltA, ompA and ompB genes of Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae. This report is the first to describe Ca. R. andeanae in Brazil.

Rickettsial agents in avian ixodid ticks in northeast Brazil

“…R. andenae" was recently reported infecting A. parvum ticks from the vegetation of Pantanal and from horses in the Cerrado in Brazil (Nieri-Bastos et al, 2014). Here we report "Ca.…”

High prevalence of “Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae” and apparent exclusion of Rickettsia parkeri in adult Amblyomma maculatum (Acari: Ixodidae) from Kansas and Oklahoma

“…“ Candidatus Rickettsiae andeanae” was first described from specimens of A. maculatum and Ixodes boliviensis collected in Peru (Blair et al, 2004), and subsequently from Gulf Coast ticks in the United States (Paddock et al, 2010) and other tick species in Argentina, Brazil, and Chile (Pacheco et al, 2007, Abaraca et al, 2012 and Nieri-Bastos et al, 2014). “ Ca R. andeanae” has been isolated recently in culture, although some difficulties remain in establishing continuously infected cell lines (Luce-Fedrow et al, 2012 and Ferrari et al, 2013).…”

Seropositivity for Rickettsia spp. and Ehrlichia spp. in the human population of Mato Grosso, Central-Western Brazil

“…R. rickettsii was the only species of Rickettsia transmitted by ticks that was thought to infect humans in South America until 2000. Since then, Rickettsia parkeri, Rickettsia rhipicephali, Rickettsia felis, ´Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii´ and ´Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae' have been reported as well 5 . Furthermore, Rickettsia sp.…”