Rickettsia sibirica Isolation from a Patient and Detection in Ticks, Portugal

Abstract

We report the first isolation of Rickettsia sibirica (strain mongolotimonae) from the blood of a patient and detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of the rickettsia in a Rhipicephalus pusillus tick collected from a dead mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in the Alentejo region, Portugal. We describe also the first PCR detection of a new Rickettsia strain that is related to R. sibirica.

Keywords

• Rickettsia
• spotted fever group
• Rickettsia sibirica (strain mongolotimonae)
• Rhipicephalus pusillus
• Rhipicephalus bursa
• ticks