Rickettsial Infections Causing Acute Febrile Illness in Urban Slums, Brazil.

We conducted enhanced acute febrile illness surveillance in an urban slum community in Salvador, Brazil. We found that rickettsial infection accounted for 3.5% of urgent care visits for acute fever. Our results suggest that rickettsiae might be an underrecognized, treatable cause of acute febrile illness in impoverished urban populations in Brazil.

Enduring Challenge of Invasive Ticks: Introduction of Amblyomma oblongoguttatum (Acari: Ixodidae) into the United States on a Human Traveler Returning from Central America.

Introduction of exotic tick vectors of bacteria, protozoa, viruses, and filarial parasites into the United States has accelerated in recent years, primarily because of globalization, increased frequency of travel, and a rise in legal and illegal animal trades. We herein report introduction of a live specimen of Amblyomma oblongoguttatum on a human into the United States from Central America, and we review 4 previous similar incidents. This tick species occurs widely in the neotropics, from western and southern Mexico, southwards through Central America, to the northern half of South America. It is a potential vector of bacterial agents of spotted fever group rickettsioses, raising concern that if A. oblongoguttatum ticks become established in this country, they might also be able to carry pathogens of human and veterinary concern. Given the potential for exotic ticks as vectors of numerous pathogens, proper surveillance, interception, and identification of these ticks are vital to protecting human and veterinary health. Rigorous governmental inspections of imported livestock and pet animals at ports of entry and educating human travelers and medical practitioners about the risks should be part of an overall national tick program.

Rickettsia parkeri and Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae in Tick of the Amblyomma maculatum Group, Mexico.

We report Rickettsia parkeri and Candidatus Rickettsia andeanae in ticks of the Amblyomma maculatum group collected from dogs in Sonora, Mexico. Molecular characterization of these bacteria was accomplished by DNA amplification and sequence analysis of portions of the rickettsial genes gltA, htrA, ompA, and ompB.

Molecular survey of Rickettsia spp. in the Neotropical deer tick Haemaphysalis juxtakochi from Brazilian Pampa.

Spotted fever (SF) is a tick-borne disease associated with Rickettsia spp.. In the Pampa biome, Southern Brazil, cases of SF seem to be strongly linked with the practice of hunting wild animals. An investigation of rickettsiae in tick species found on wild animals could provide more information regarding the rickettsiosis enzootic cycle. The aim of this study is to describe the results of a molecular survey of Rickettsia spp. in the Neotropical deer tick, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Cooley, 1946 (Acari: Ixodidae), from the Brazilian Pampa. Ticks were obtained from 14 road-killed gray brocket deer, Mazama gouazoubira (Artiodactyla: Cervidae), found in nine different municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul state, Southern Brazil. Ticks were processed individually to obtain genomic DNA, and then Rickettsia spp. was investigated using a set of PCR reactions that amplified the rickettsial fragments of the gltA, ompA, and htrA genes. Of the 24 tick samples tested, DNA of Rickettsia parkeri sensu stricto (s.s.) was found in 11 H. juxtakochi specimens collected in two different areas of the Brazilian Pampa. This is the first report of R. parkeri s.s. (the main agent associated with SF in the Uruguayan, Argentinian, and Brazilian Pampa) in H. juxtakochi ticks. These findings indicate that R. parkeri s.s. may be much more common and widely distributed in the Pampa biome than previously assumed. Moreover, H. juxtakochi ticks and gray brocket deer could participate in the potential spillover of R. parkeri s.s. from endemic to non-endemic areas in the South American Pampa.