Abstract
Samples of 10 and 14 Ctenocephalides felis felis fleas were collected on dogs from Pedreira and Mogi das Cruzes municipalities, respectively, in the State of São Paulo, Brazil, for detection of Rickettsia spp. Individual fleas were submitted to Polymerase Chain Reaction targeting the 17-kDa and the 190-kDa (OmpA) genes of Rickettsiae. This later gene is specific for spotted fever group. Nine fleas from Pedreira (90%) and four fleas from Mogi das Cruzes (28%) were positive for the 17-kDa gene, and eight fleas from Pedreira (80%) and four from Mogi das Cruzes (28%) were positive for 190-kDa gene. The nucleotide sequence of the 190-kDa products of one flea from Pedreira and one flea from Mogi das Cruzes were 100% identical to each other, and when compared to the GenBank Data, they were 100% identical to the 190-kDa sequence of R. felis. This was the first report of its occurrence in the State of São Paulo.
Highlights
The genus Rickettsia is currently composed by few more than 20 recognized species, which have mostly been associated with hematophagous arthropods, such as ticks, mites, lice and fleas (Stenos and Walker, 2000)
All 24 fleas collected in this study were identified as Ctenocephalides felis felis
As a contribution for the life history of this new Rickettsia species, this study comprises the second report of R. felis from fleas in Brazil, and the first from the State of São Paulo
Summary
The genus Rickettsia is currently composed by few more than 20 recognized species, which have mostly been associated with hematophagous arthropods, such as ticks, mites, lice and fleas (Stenos and Walker, 2000) Some of these species cause disease in humans and/or animals, to which they are transmitted via the arthropod vectors. R. felis was first observed by Adams et al (1990) in the midgut of cat fleas Ctenocephalides felis felis, and confirmed later as a new species by the use of genotypic characterization (Bouyer et al, 2001) Recently, this species could be first cultured in laboratory (Raoult et al, 2001). Human cases of a rickettsioses caused by R. felis have been reported in United States, France, Brazil; Germany; Mexico and Thailand (Schriefer et al, 1994; Raoult et al, 2001; Richter et al, 2002; Parola et al, 2003)
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