Molecular detection of Rickettsia felis in fleas and ticks collected from dogs and cats of Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

Fleas and ticks represent the two main groups of ectoparasites that infest companion animals. In particular, the flea Ctenocephalides felis felis and several members of the Rhipicephalus sanguineus complex are the main vectors of a wide range of pathogens on the American continent.

American mitogenome reference for the tropical brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus linnaei (Audouin, 1826)

“… Moraes-Filho et al (2011) have genetically analysed brown dog ticks from Linares, Nuevo Leon State, Mexico, and used partial ∼460 bp fragment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene to assign them to the “northern” lineage or what is now recognised as R. linnaei. More recently, brown dog ticks were demonstrated on dogs and a single cat infested by nymphs of the tick species in the State of Puebla in Mexico, and molecularly identified as R. linnaei based on partial mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene ( Salceda-Sánchez et al, 2023 ). Finally, the presence of R. linnaei was demonstrated across 12 states in Mexico based on partial fragments of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and 16S rRNA genes and morphological investigation ( Almazán et al, 2023 ).…”

Comparison of Climate Change Scenarios of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (Latreille 1806) from México and the Boarders with Central America and the United States

“…Until now, the species that describes the largest distribution in the continent was R. linnaei , which is found mainly in the Neotropical region and has recently colonized the Southern United States, where it is considered a priority invasive species [ 5 ]. Both species are mainly associated with domestic canids that inhabit urban environments, which is why they represent a threat to the health of both companion animals and the human population [ 6 , 7 ]. The two species of ticks are considered vectors of various microorganisms that cause disease in humans (such as Rickettsia rickettsii and Rickettsia massiliae spotted, the etiological agents of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and R. massiliae rickettsiosis, respectively), and dogs ( Ehrlichia canis , Anaplasma platys and Babesia vogelii , causative agents of canine monocytic ehrlichiosis, thrombocytic anaplasmosis and canine babesiosis, respectively) [ 8 ].…”

“…We built a database of personal collections of the authors, GBIF (https://doi.org/ 10.15468/dl.7tffuh), INDRE and scientific articles [3,6,17,18] for México and the United States (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas). The points of occurrence correspond mainly to Mexico, although we chose four states in the United States due to the effect that the northern border of Mexico may have.…”