Rickettsia felis infection in cat fleas Ctenocephalides felis felis
Braz. j. microbiol
;
41(3): 813-818, Oct. 2010. tab
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: lil-549422
ABSTRACT
The present study evaluated the rickettsial infection in a laboratory colony of cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis felis (Bouche) in Brazil. All flea samples (30 eggs, 30 larvae, 30 cocoons, 30 males, and 30 females) tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were shown to contain rickettsial DNA. PCR products, corresponding to the rickettsial gltA, htrA, ompA and ompB gene partial sequences were sequenced and showed to correspond to Rickettsia felis, indicating that the flea colony was 100 percent infected by R. felis. The immunofluorescence assay (IFA) showed the presence of R. felis-reactive antibodies in blood sera of 7 (87.5 percent) out of 8 cats that were regularly used to feed the flea colony. From 15 humans that used to work with the flea colony in the laboratory, 6 (40.0 percent) reacted positively to R. felis by IFA. Reactive feline and human sera showed low endpoint titers against R. felis, varying from 64 to 256. With the exception of one human serum, all R. felis-reactive sera were also reactive to Rickettsia rickettsii and/or Rickettsia parkeri antigens at similar titers to R. felis. The single human serum that was reactive solely to R. felis had an endpoint titer of 256, indicating that this person was infected by R. felis.
Full text:
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Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Rickettsiaceae Infections
/
Base Sequence
/
Cats
/
Polymerase Chain Reaction
/
Rickettsia felis
/
Siphonaptera
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Evaluation studies
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. j. microbiol
Journal subject:
Microbiology
Year:
2010
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade Federal Rural de Rio de Janeiro/BR
/
Universidade de São Paulo/BR
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