 | RICKETTSIOLOGY: Present and Future Directions
Copyright © 2003 by the New York Academy of Sciences
description
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 990:158-161 (2003)
© 2003 New York Academy of Sciences
Detection of Astrakhan Fever Rickettsia from Ticks in Kosovo
PIERRE-EDOUARD FOURNIERa,
JEAN-PAUL DURANDb,
JEAN-MARC ROLAINa,
JEAN-LOUIS CAMICASc,
HERVÉ TOLOUb AND
DIDIER RAOULTa
aUnité des rickettsies, IFR 48, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseilles cedex 05, France
bInstitut de Médecine Tropicale du Service de Santé des Armées, Marseilles, France
cLaboratoire d'epidémiologie des maladies à vecteurs, IRD, Montpellier, France
Address for correspondence: Pierre-Edouard Fournier, Unité des rickettsies, IFR 48, CNRS UMR 6020, Faculté de médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseilles cedex 05, France.
pierre-edouard.fournier{at}mail.ap-hm.fr
Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 990: 158-161 (2003).
Astrakhan fever is a summer spotted fever resembling Mediterranean spotted fever, endemic in Astrakhan, a region of Russia located by the Caspian sea. Its agent is a spotted fever group rickettsia, member of the Rickettsia conorii complex, transmitted to humans by Rhipicephalus sanguineus and Rhipicephalus pumilio ticks. In Summer 2001, French United Nations troops in Kosovo collected 2 ticks on asymptomatic soldiers (1 R. sanguineus and 1 Hyalomma marginatum) and 10 ticks on dogs (7 R. sanguineus, 2 Ixodes ricinus, and 1 H. marginatum) in the Morina region. By PCR amplification of both the gltA and ompA genes, we detected a rickettsia in 4 R. sanguineus, i.e., 3 of those collected on dogs and those taken from military personnel. As ticks were preserved in alcohol, culture was not possible. The sequences obtained from these PCR products identified, with a 100% homology, Astrakhan fever rickettsia. None of the other collected tick species was positive. The patient with the positive tick remained asymptomatic. Our study demonstrates, for the first time, the presence of Astrakhan fever rickettsia in ticks outside Russia. We suspect that the area of distribution of this rickettsia could be wider than initially suspected. Moreover, as R. sanguineus ticks bite humans, Astrakhan fever might be a cause of spotted fever in Kosovo.
Key Words: Astrakhan fever rickettsia • Kosovo • spotted fever group
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
|
|
 
E. Rydkina, A. Sahni, D. J. Silverman, and S. K. Sahni
Comparative analysis of host-cell signalling mechanisms activated in response to infection with Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia typhi
J. Med. Microbiol.,
July 1, 2007;
56(7):
896 - 906.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.R BLANCO and J.A OTEO
Rickettsiosis in Europe
Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.,
October 1, 2006;
1078(1):
26 - 33.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I. V TARASEVICH and O. Y MEDIANNIKOV
Rickettsial Diseases in Russia
Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.,
October 1, 2006;
1078(1):
48 - 59.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. Parola, C. D. Paddock, and D. Raoult
Tick-Borne Rickettsioses around the World: Emerging Diseases Challenging Old Concepts
Clin. Microbiol. Rev.,
October 1, 2005;
18(4):
719 - 756.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. J. Blair, J. Jiang, G. B. Schoeler, C. Moron, E. Anaya, M. Cespedes, C. Cruz, V. Felices, C. Guevara, L. Mendoza, et al.
Characterization of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Flea and Tick Specimens from Northern Peru
J. Clin. Microbiol.,
November 1, 2004;
42(11):
4961 - 4967.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
[PDF]
|
|
|
|
