Prevalence and diversity of Rickettsia species in ectoparasites collected from small rodents in Lithuania

Abstract

BackgroundRickettsiae are emerging pathogens causing public health problems in many countries around the world. Rickettsia spp. are found in association with a wide range of arthropods which feed on different species of animals. However, the distribution and natural cycle of Rickettsia species and their association with different arthropod vectors are not fully established. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence and prevalence of Rickettsia spp. in ticks, mites and fleas parasitizing different species of small mammals in Lithuania and to molecularly characterize the Rickettsia spp. obtained from different ectoparasites.ResultsA total of 1261 ectoparasites (596 Ixodes ricinus ticks, 550 mites of five species and 115 fleas of eight species) collected from 238 rodents in Lithuania during 2013–2014 were investigated for the presence of Rickettsia pathogens. Infection rates were calculated as the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). The infection rate varied among ectoparasites and was found highest in fleas 43.5%, followed by I. ricinus ticks (MLE = 26.5%; 95% CI: 22.2–31.3%) and then mites (MLE = 9.3%; 95% CI: 7.0–12.2%). Sequence analysis of partial gltA and 17kDa genes revealed the presence of Rickettsia helvetica, R. felis, R. monacensis, Rickettsia sp. and rickettsial endosymbionts. Four Rickettsia spp. were identified in fleas, while three Rickettsia spp. were identified in Laelapidae mites and only one (R. helvetica) in I. ricinus ticks.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, this is the first report of the occurrence and molecular characterization of Rickettsia spp. in 11 species of ectoparasites of small rodents in Lithuania. The present data extend the knowledge on the distribution of Rickettsia spp. and their association with different arthropod vectors. Prior to our study, R. felis had never been identified in Lithuania. To our knowledge, this is also the first report of R. felis in L. agilis and H. microti mites and in Ct. agyrtes and H. talpae fleas, as well as the first detection of R. monacensis in Ct. agyrtes fleas.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-2947-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Molecular epidemiology and phylogeny of spotted fever group Rickettsia in camels ( Camelus dromedarius ) and their infesting ticks from Tunisia

“…These results consolidate previous findings describing the presence of these two Rickettsia species in Ixodes ricinus from the north-west of Tunisia (Sfar et al, 2008). Nevertheless, these two species were identified not only in ticks feeding on the common wall lizard from the neighbour country Italy (Tomassone et al, 2017) but also in rodents blood and infesting fleas and mites from Lithuania Radzijevskaja et al, 2018) and…”

“…These results consolidate previous findings describing the presence of these two Rickettsia species in Ixodes ricinus from the north‐west of Tunisia (Sfar et al, ). Nevertheless, these two species were identified not only in ticks feeding on the common wall lizard from the neighbour country Italy (Tomassone et al, ) but also in rodents blood and infesting fleas and mites from Lithuania (Busaitiene et al, ; Radzijevskaja et al, ) and Slovakia (Minichova et al, ; Miťková et al, ). Furthermore , R. monacensis and R. helvetica are characterized as novel potential human pathogens in Europe (Jado et al, ).…”

Diversity of Rickettsia in Ticks Collected in Abruzzi and Molise Regions (Central Italy)

“…Conversely, in our study, RFLOs were only detected in I. hexagonus. The reason for this association may be found in the host preference of ticks, but further investigations are needed considering that R. felis strains isolated from different arthropods shows host-specific genomic variation [42].…”

The molecular detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. in cat and dog fleas collected from companion animals

“…The presence and possibility of transmission of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, have been poorly investigated in fleas. So far, the occurrence of this rickettsia has been reported on four continents -Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, mostly in Ixodes ticks (Derdakova et al 2003, Stańczak et al 2004, Stuen 2007, Radzijevskaja et al 2018, Woldehiwet 2010. This species is classified as an opportunistic pathogen, responsible for the induction of granulo-cytic anaplasmosis, a zoonotic disease causing unspecific symptoms in humans and animals (Dumler et al 2005).…”

“…The occurrence of some species of Rickettsia was described in fleas in several European countries (Brouqui et al 2006, Parola 2011, Hornok et al 2014, Špitalská et al 2015, Radzijevskaja et al 2018, Víchová et al 2018. Four groups belong to Rickettsia: Spotted Fever Group rickettsiae (SFG) including approximately 20 species, Typhus Group (TG) with R. prowazeki and R. typhi, the ancestral group (R. canadensis and R. belli) and the transitional group (R. akari, R. felis and R. australis) (Wood andArtsob 2011, Radzijevskaja et al 2018).…”