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MOLECULAR DETECTION OF RICKETTSIA FELIS, RICKETTSIA TYPHI AND TWO GENOTYPES CLOSELY RELATED TO BARTONELLA ELIZABETHAE

2006; American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Volume: 75; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.4269/ajtmh.2006.75.727

1476-1645

Rita de Sousa, PIERRE EDOUARD-FOURNIER, Maria Margarida Santos‐Silva, Fátima Amaro, Fátima Bacellar, Didier Raoult,

Viral Infections and Vectors

A total of 56 fleas were collected from mice, rats, and one hedgehog in national parks of mainland Portugal and the Madeira Island. All fleas were tested for the presence of bacteria of the genera Rickettsia and Bartonella using PCR assays. In fleas from mainland Portugal, we detected Rickettsia felis in one Archaeopsylla erinacei maura flea and in one Ctenophtalmus sp . In five Leptopsylla segnis fleas taken from rats in the Madeira Island, we identified Rickettsia typhi . In addition, in four fleas from the genera Ornithophaga and Stenoponia collect from mice and a rat in mainland Portugal, we detected the presence of two new Bartonella genotypes closely related to Bartonella elizabethae . Our findings emphasize the potential risk of flea-transmitted infections in mainland Portugal and the Madeira archipelago, and extend our knowledge of the potential flea vectors of human pathogens.