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a Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Ohio 43210, USA
Key Words: N. risticii • Ae. pullorum • N. mikurensis • A. phagocytophilum
Address for correspondence: Yasuko Rikihisa, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, 1925 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210. Voice: 614-292-9677; fax: 614-292-6473. e-mail: rikihisa.1{at}osu.edu
Members of the family Anaplasmataceae are obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria that naturally infect a variety of wild and domestic animal species, the spillover of which may lead to zoonosis. I discuss new findings on members of the family Anaplasmataceae of veterinary importance and therefore, I will describe the recent findings on Neorickettsia risticii in the trematode and related Neorickettsia species. I also will review the recent progress on Aegyptianella pullorum and other Aegyptianella sp., "Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis" and Anaplasma phagocytophilum strains in various hosts. The whole genome sequences of two important veterinary pathogens—Anaplasma marginale, the bovine anaplasmosis agent, and Ehrlichia (formerly Cowdria) ruminantium, the agent of heartwater of ruminants—have been published. Taken together, these advances in research of the family Anaplasmataceae in the veterinary field provide us with insights into the evolution, reservoir, and transmission of these organisms in nature and their pathogenesis in natural and accidental hosts. It is through this work that surveillance, diagnosis, preventive measures, and treatment of ehrlichioses of both animals and humans can be improved.
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