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Aguirre AAR, Garcia MV, Costa IND, Csordas BG, Rodrigues VDS, Medeiros JF, Andreotti R. New records of tick-associated spotted fever group Rickettsia in an Amazon-Savannah ecotone, Brazil. Ticks Tick Borne Dis 2018; 9:1038-1044. [PMID: 29625922 DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2017] [Revised: 03/11/2018] [Accepted: 03/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Human rickettsiosis has been recorded in the Amazon Biome. However, the epidemiological cycle of causative rickettsiae has not been fully accounted for in the Amazon region. This study investigates the presence of spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia spp. in free-living unfed ticks of the Amblyomma genus. The study was conducted in seven municipalities in Rondonia State, Brazil, where the main biomes are Amazon forest, Brazilian Savannah and their ecotones (areas of ecological tension between open ombrophilous forest and savannah). The following tick species were collected: Amblyomma cajennense (sensu lato) s.l., A. cajennense (sensu stricto) s.s., A. coelebs, A. naponense, A. oblongoguttatum, A. romitii, A. scalpturatum and A. sculptum. A total of 167 adults, 248 nymphs and 1004 larvae were subjected to DNA extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to determine the presence of SFG Rickettsia spp. PCR-positive samples included: one A. cajennense s.s. female and one A. cajennense s.l. male from a rural area in Vilhena Municipality; 10 nymphs and a sample of larvae of A. cajennense s.l. from a peri-urban area in Cacoal Municipality; and an A. oblongoguttatum adult male from a rural area of Pimenta Bueno Municipality. All sequences obtained exhibited 100% identity with Rickettsia amblyommatis sequences. This is the first confirmation of SFG Rickettsia in an A. oblongoguttatum tick. Furthermore, this is the first record of SFG Rickettsia in the municipalities targeted by this study. These results warn that SFG Rickettsia circulation poses a threat in Rondonia State (among Amazon-Savannah ecotones), and that this threat is increased by the fact that SFG Rickettsia infect a human-biting tick species hitherto unconfirmed as a vector.
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Affiliation(s)
- A A R Aguirre
- Plataforma de Criação e Experimentação Animal, Fiocruz Rondônia, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, n° 7671, Bairro Lagoa, Porto Velho, RO, CEP 76812-245, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Av. Costa e Silva, Bairro Universitário, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79070-900, Brazil.
| | - Marcos Valério Garcia
- Laboratórios de Biologia Molecular e do Carrapato, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Av. Rádio Maia, n° 830, Zona Rural, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79106-550, Brazil
| | - Ivaneide Nunes da Costa
- Laboratório de Entomologia Médica, Fiocruz Rondônia, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rua da Beira, n° 7671, Bairro Lagoa, Porto Velho, RO, CEP 76812-245, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Experimental, Universidade Federal de Rondônia, Rodovia BR 364, Km 9,5, Porto Velho, RO, CEP 76801-059, Brazil
| | - Bárbara Guimarães Csordas
- Laboratórios de Biologia Molecular e do Carrapato, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Av. Rádio Maia, n° 830, Zona Rural, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79106-550, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação em Doenças Infecciosas e Parasitárias, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Av. Costa e Silva, Bairro Universitário, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79070-900, Brazil
| | - Vinícius da Silva Rodrigues
- Laboratórios de Biologia Molecular e do Carrapato, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Av. Rádio Maia, n° 830, Zona Rural, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79106-550, Brazil
| | - Jansen Fernandes Medeiros
- Laboratório de Entomologia Médica, Fiocruz Rondônia, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Rua da Beira, n° 7671, Bairro Lagoa, Porto Velho, RO, CEP 76812-245, Brazil
| | - Renato Andreotti
- Laboratórios de Biologia Molecular e do Carrapato, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, Av. Rádio Maia, n° 830, Zona Rural, Campo Grande, MS, CEP 79106-550, Brazil
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