The First Reported Outbreak of an Undetermined Species of Human Infection with Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia in Lu'an, China

Abstract Tick-borne diseases (TBD) in humans have dramatically increased over recent years and although the bulk of cases are attributable to Lyme Disease in the Northeastern US, TBDs like spotted fever rickettsiosis and ehrlichiosis heavily impact other parts of the country, namely the mid-south. Understanding tick and pathogen distributions and prevalence traditionally requires active surveillance, which quickly becomes logistically and financially unrealistic as the geographic area of focus increases. We report on a community science effort to survey ticks across Arkansas to obtain updated data on tick distributions and prevalence of human tick-borne disease-causing pathogens in the most commonly encountered ticks. During a 20-mo period, Arkansans submitted 9,002 ticks from 71 of the 75 counties in the state. Amblyomma americanum was the most common tick species received, accounting for 76% of total tick submissions. Nearly 6,000 samples were screened for spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR) and Ehrlichia, resulting in general prevalence rates of 37.4 and 5.1%, respectively. In addition, 145 ticks (2.5%) were infected with both SFGR and Ehrlichia. Arkansas Department of Health reported 2,281 spotted fever and 380 ehrlichiosis cases during the same period as our tick collections. Since known SFGR vectors Dermacentor variabilis and Amblyomma maculatum were not the most common ticks submitted, nor did they have the highest prevalence rates of SFGR, it appears that other tick species play the primary role in infecting humans with SFGR. Our investigation demonstrated the utility of community science to efficiently and economically survey ticks and identify vector-borne disease risk in Arkansas.

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Rickettsia aeschlimannii: A New Pathogenic Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia, South Africa

Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽

10.3201/eid0808.020199 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 8 (8) ◽

pp. 874a-874 ◽

Cited By ~ 61

Author(s):

Anne-Marie Pretorius ◽

Richard J. Birtles

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Spotted Fever ◽

Spotted Fever Group ◽

Rickettsia Aeschlimannii ◽

Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia

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Comparative growth of spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. strains in Vero cells

Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz ◽

10.1590/0074-02760160093 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 111 (8) ◽

pp. 528-531

Author(s):

Arannadia Barbosa Silva ◽

Myrian Morato Duarte ◽

Vinicius Figueiredo Vizzoni ◽

Ana Íris de Lima Duré ◽

Diego Montenegro Lopéz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spotted Fever ◽

Vero Cells ◽

Spotted Fever Group ◽

Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia

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Rickettsia spp. in rodent-attached ticks and first evidence of Spotted fever Group Rickettsia species Candidatus Rickettsia uralica in Europe.

10.21203/rs.2.23992/v3 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maria Vikentjeva ◽

Julia Geller ◽

Jaanus Remm ◽

Irina Golovljova

Keyword(s):

Spotted Fever ◽

Ixodid Ticks ◽

Distribution Area ◽

Myodes Glareolus ◽

Ixodes Persulcatus ◽

Spotted Fever Group ◽

Human Pathogens ◽

Rickettsia Species ◽

Questing Ticks ◽

Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia

Abstract BACKGROUND Rickettsia spp. are human pathogens that cause a number of diseases and are transmitted by arthropods, including ixodid ticks. Estonia contributes a region, where the distribution area of two exophilic tick species of known medical importance, Ixodes persulcatus and I. ricinus, overlap. The presence of the nidicolous rodent-associated I. trianguliceps has recently been shown for Estonia. Although there is no Estonian data available on human disease caused by tick-borne Rickettsia spp., the presence of three Rickettsia species in non-nidicolous ticks, albiet at very dissimilar rates, was also previously reported. The aim of this studywas to screen, identify and characterize Rickettsia species in nidicolous and non-nidicolous ticks attached to rodents. RESULTS Nymphs and larvae of I. ricinus ( n = 1004), I . persulcatus ( n = 75) and I. trianguliceps ( n = 117) attached to rodents and shrews caught in different parts of Estonia were studied for the presence of Rickettsia spp. by nested PCR. Ticks were removed from 314 small animals of 5 species (bank voles Myodes glareolus , yellow necked mice Apodemus flavicollis , striped field mice A. agrarius, pine voles M. subterranius and common shrews S. araneus) . Rickettsial DNA was detected in 8,7% (103/1186) studied ticks. In addition to R. helvetica, previously found in questing ticks, this study reports the first identification of the recently described I. trianguliceps- associated Candidatus R. uralica in west of the Ural.

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