Prevalence of ‘Candidatus Rickettsia vini’ in Ixodes arboricola ticks in the North of Spain, 2011–2013

Abstract

Abstract Background The prevalence of Rickettsia spp. in Ixodes arboricola ticks collected from birds in two locations in the North of Spain from 2011 to 2013 was studied. Findings The detection of the bacteria in 54 DNA extracts of I. arboricola was performed by PCR targeting an ompA fragment gene. The 94.4% of the samples yielded positive results and the nucleotide sequences were homologous (100% identity) to ‘Candidatus Rickettsia vini’. Conclusion The high rate of infection suggests that ‘Ca. R. vini’ is a common endosymbiont of I. arboricola.

Keywords

• Candidatus Rickettsia vini
• Ixodes arboricola
• Bird
• Spain