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New records of Ornithodoros puertoricensis Fox 1947 (Ixodida: Argasidae) parasitizing humans in rural and urban dwellings, Panama.

ABSTRACT: The presence of ticks inside human constructions was evaluated in two localities from Colon province (Charco La Piedra and Espinar) and one from Panama province (Ancon, City of Panama). In two of houses, eight people from Charco La Piedra and one from Ancón reported "insect bites," which produced blisters for several weeks. The investigation resulted in the collection of argasid ticks, which were identified by morphology and sequencing the 16s ribosomal RNA gene, and later evaluated for the presence of relapsing fever Borrelia DNA. All ticks were identified as Ornithodoros puertoricensis. While spirochetal DNA was not detected by PCR in the ticks, our report highlights the potential for relapsing fever borreliosis in rural and urban localities in Panama.

SUBMITTER: Bermudez SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6542590 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New records of Ornithodoros puertoricensis Fox 1947 (Ixodida: Argasidae) parasitizing humans in rural and urban dwellings, Panama.

Bermúdez Sergio E SE Castillo Eduardo E Pohlenz Tyler D TD Kneubehl Alexander A Krishnavajhala Aparna A Domínguez Lillian L Suárez Antonio A López Job E JE

Ticks and tick-borne diseases 20170205 4

The presence of ticks inside human constructions was evaluated in two localities from Colon province (Charco La Piedra and Espinar) and one from Panama province (Ancon, City of Panama). In two of houses, eight people from Charco La Piedra and one from Ancón reported "insect bites," which produced blisters for several weeks. The investigation resulted in the collection of argasid ticks, which were identified by morphology and sequencing the 16s ribosomal RNA gene, and later evaluated for the pres ...[more]

PMID: 28196664

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Project description:Two Borrelia isolates (CA434 and CA435) cultured from the soft tick Ornithodoros coriaceus were analyzed by contour-clamped homogeneous electric field gel electrophoresis of unrestricted and ApaI-restricted DNA, standard electrophoresis of BamHI- and HindIII-restricted DNA, Southern hybridization, restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene, and amplification of the 5S-23S intergenic spacer region. These isolates were compared with Borrelia coriaceae type strain Co53, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto strain CA4, and the relapsing-fever spirochete B. parkeri (undesignated). The 16S rRNA region of CA434 and CA435 differed from that of B. coriaceae type strain Co53 by the presence of 1 base (C) at position 367 (GenBank accession no. U42286). The linear plasmid profile of CA434 was similar to that of Co53, and the ApaI, BamHI, and HindIII restriction fingerprints of the total cellular DNA of CA434 and Co53 were similar. In contrast, CA435 differed somewhat from CA434 and Co53, which demonstrates that B. coriaceae is genetically diverse. Southern hybridization showed that the DNAs of CA434 and CA435 hybridized strongly with the digoxigenin-labeled DNA of Co53. Low homology was found between the DNA of Co53 and that of B. parkeri. The 16S rRNA sequence of B. parkeri was identical to previously published results for B. parkeri strain M3001 (GenBank accession number U42296). CA434 and CA435 represent only the second and third isolates of B. coriaceae obtained from any source since its initial isolation from an O. coriaceus tick in 1985. All three B. coriaceae isolates were derived from adult ticks collected from the same locality in northwestern California. Difficulties encountered in detecting B. coriaceae in, and isolating this spirochete from, the tissues of O. coriaceus are discussed. The lack of concordance between different detection or isolation methods suggests that reliance upon a single technique may grossly underestimate the true prevalence of spirochetal infection in wild-caught O. coriaceus ticks.

Dataset Information

New records of Ornithodoros puertoricensis Fox 1947 (Ixodida: Argasidae) parasitizing humans in rural and urban dwellings, Panama.

Publications

New records of Ornithodoros puertoricensis Fox 1947 (Ixodida: Argasidae) parasitizing humans in rural and urban dwellings, Panama.

Similar Datasets

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