Detection of Rickettsia in Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks and Ctenocephalides felis fleas from southeastern Tunisia by reverse line blot assay.

Fatma Khrouf (1) , Youmna M'Ghirbi (1) , Abir Znazen (2) , Mounir Ben Jemaa (3) , Adnene Hammami (2) , Ali Bouattour (1)

1 Institut Pasteur de Tunis
2 Microbiology Department, Habib Bourguiba Hospital/Faculty of Medicine, South University, Sfax, Tunisia
3 Hedi Chaker Hospital [Sfax]

Ticks (n = 663) and fleas (n = 470) collected from domestic animals from southeastern Tunisia were screened for Rickettsia infection using reverse line blot assay. Evidence of spotted fever group Rickettsia was obtained. We detected Rickettsia felis in fleas, Rickettsia massiliae Bar 29 and the Rickettsia conorii Israeli spotted fever strain in ticks, and Rickettsia conorii subsp. conorii and Rickettsia spp. in both arthropods. The sensitivity of the adopted technique allowed the identification of a new association between fleas and R. conorii subsp. conorii species. The presence of these vector-borne Rickettsia infections should be considered when diagnosing this disease in humans in Tunisia.

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology

Fatma Khrouf, Youmna M'Ghirbi, Abir Znazen, Mounir Ben Jemaa, Adnene Hammami, et al.. Detection of Rickettsia in Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks and Ctenocephalides felis fleas from southeastern Tunisia by reverse line blot assay.. Journal of Clinical Microbiology, 2014, 52 (1), pp.268-74. ⟨10.1128/JCM.01925-13⟩. ⟨pasteur-01061219⟩