Rickettsia parkeri in Gulf Coast Ticks, Southeastern Virginia, USA

Abstract

We report evidence that Amblyomma maculatum tick populations are well established in southeastern Virginia. We found that 43.1% of the adult Gulf Coast ticks collected in the summer of 2010 carried Rickettsia parkeri, suggesting that persons living in or visiting southeastern Virginia are at risk for infection with this pathogen.

Keywords

• Rickettsia parkeri
• Amblyomma maculatum
• Gulf Coast tick
• bacteria
• rickettsia
• Virginia