Parasites & Vectors (Sep 2015)

Rickettsia raoultii in Haemaphysalis erinacei from marbled polecats, China–Kazakhstan border

  • Li-Ping Guo,
  • Lu-Meng Mu,
  • Jun Xu,
  • Su-Hua Jiang,
  • An-Dong Wang,
  • Chuang-Fu Chen,
  • Gang Guo,
  • Wan-Jiang Zhang,
  • Yuan-Zhi Wang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-015-1065-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 1
pp. 1 – 3

Abstract

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Abstract We found Rickettsia raoultii DNA in 2 out of 32 (6.25 %) Haemaphysalis erinacei ticks. Result showed that the sequences of five genes (17-kDa, gltA, ompA, rrs, and ompB) were 100 % identity with that of R. Raoultii in GenBank. This study is the first report on the presence of R. raoultii in H. erinacei from wild marbled polecat, Vormela peregusna. Our findings suggest that H. erinacei parasitizing wild marbled polecat may serve as reservoir and carriers for R. raoultii in areas around the China-Kazakhstan border. The transmission of tick-borne diseases originated from wildlife should not be underestimated in border region.

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