Abstract
BackgroundRickettsia felis is a recently described flea-borne spotted fever group Rickettsia that is an emerging human pathogen. Although there is information on the organism from around the world, there is no information on the organism in China.MethodsWe used a commercial ELISA to detect antibodies reactive against R. felis in blood samples and developed a PCR to detect the gltA of the organism in blood samples and external parasites.ResultsWe found reactive antibodies in people (16%; 28/180), dogs (47%; 128/271) and cats (21%; 19/90) and positive PCRs with DNA from people (0.1%; 1/822), dogs (0.8%; 8/1,059), mice (10%; 1/10), ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus; 10%; 15/146), lice (Linognathus setosus; 16%; 6/37), fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis; 95%; 57/60) and mosquitoes (Anopheles sinensis, Culex pipiens pallens; 6%; 25/428), but not from cats (0/135) or canine fecal swabs (0/43).ConclusionsThis is the first report of R. felis in China where there is serological and/ or PCR evidence of the organism in previously reported [people, dogs, cats, ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis) and mosquitoes (Anopheles sinensis, Culex pipiens pallens)] and novel species [mice and lice (Linognathus setosus)].Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-014-0682-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Rickettsia felis is a recently described flea-borne spotted fever group Rickettsia that is an emerging human pathogen
We found reactive antibodies in people (16%; 28/180), dogs (47%; 128/271) and cats (21%; 19/90) and positive PCRs with DNA from people (0.1%; 1/822), dogs (0.8%; 8/1,059), mice (10%; 1/10), ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus; 10%; 15/146), lice (Linognathus setosus; 16%; 6/37), fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis; 95%; 57/60) and mosquitoes (Anopheles sinensis, Culex pipiens pallens; 6%; 25/428), but not from cats (0/135) or canine fecal swabs (0/43)
This is the first report of R. felis in China where there is serological and/ or PCR evidence of the organism in previously reported [people, dogs, cats, ticks (Rhipicephalus sanguineus), fleas (Ctenocephalides felis felis) and mosquitoes (Anopheles sinensis, Culex pipiens pallens)] and novel species [mice and lice (Linognathus setosus)]
Summary
Rickettsia felis is a recently described flea-borne spotted fever group Rickettsia that is an emerging human pathogen. Tick-borne spotted fever group rickettsiae have been described in China [1], there is no information on the flea-borne emerging human pathogen Rickettsia felis. Described in 2001, R. felis appears to have the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis felis, as its main vector and reservoir and can infect other arthropods (mosquitoes, ticks and mites) and mammals (rats, opossums, dogs, and cats). It is found worldwide and, in Asia, it has been definitively identified by molecular methods in fleas (Indonesia, Thailand, Afghanistan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Taiwan), ticks (Japan), raccoons (Japan) and people (Taiwan, South Korea) [2,3]. To expand our knowledge on R. felis in Asia, we studied people, animals and arthropods from around China using serology and molecular techniques
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