Prevalence of Rickettsiales in ticks removed from the skin of outdoor workers in North Carolina

Particle and Fibre Toxicology

Charles S Apperson²  Steven R Meshnick¹  Haley Thornton²  Sheana Funkhouser¹  Meagan Vaughn¹  Loganathan Ponnusamy²  Madhavi L Kakumanu²  Sangmi Lee³ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill 27599, NC, USA;Department of Entomology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695-7647, NC, USA;Present address: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda 20892, MD, USA

关键词: Reverse line blot hybridization;    Ehrlichia;    Rickettsia;    Rickettsiales pathogens;    Ticks;   

Others  :  1148187
DOI  :  10.1186/s13071-014-0607-2

 received in 2014-11-12, accepted in 2014-12-16,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Tick-transmitted rickettsial diseases, such as ehrlichiosis and spotted fever rickettsiosis, are significant sources of morbidity and mortality in the southern United States. Because of their exposure in tick-infested woodlands, outdoor workers experience an increased risk of infection with tick-borne pathogens. As part of a double blind randomized-controlled field trial of the effectiveness of permethrin-treated clothing in preventing tick bites, we identified tick species removed from the skin of outdoor workers in North Carolina and tested the ticks for Rickettsiales pathogens.

Methods

Ticks submitted by study participants from April-September 2011 and 2012 were identified to species and life stage, and preliminarily screened for the genus Rickettsia by nested PCR targeting the 17-kDa protein gene. Rickettsia were further identified to species by PCR amplification of 23S-5S intergenic spacer (IGS) fragments combined with reverse line blot hybridization with species-specific probes and through cloning and nucleotide sequence analysis of 23S-5S amplicons. Ticks were examined for Ehrlichia and Anaplasma by nested PCR directed at the gltA, antigen-expressing gene containing a variable number of tandem repeats, 16S rRNA, and groESL genes.

Results

The lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) accounted for 95.0 and 92.9% of ticks submitted in 2011 (n = 423) and 2012 (n = 451), respectively. Specimens of American dog tick (Dermacentor variabilis), Gulf Coast tick (Amblyomma maculatum) and black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) were also identified. In both years of our study, 60.9% of ticks tested positive for 17-kDa. “Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii”, identified in all four tick species, accounted for 90.2% (416/461) of the 23S-5S-positive samples and 52.9% (416/787) of all samples tested. Nucleotide sequence analysis of Rickettsia-specific 23S-5S IGS, ompA and gltA gene fragments indicated that ticks, principally A. americanum, contained novel species of Rickettsia. Other Rickettsiales, including Ehrlichia ewingii, E. chaffeensis, Ehrlichia sp. (Panola Mountain), and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, were infrequently identified, principally in A. americanum.

Conclusions

We conclude that in North Carolina, the most common rickettsial exposure is to R. amblyommii carried by A. americanum. Other Rickettsiales bacteria, including novel species of Rickettsia, were less frequently detected in A. americanum but are relevant to public health nevertheless.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Lee et al.; licensee BioMed Central.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

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