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New Jersey-Wide Survey of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia (Proteobacteria: Rickettsiaceae) in Dermacentor variabilis and Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodida: Ixodidae).

ABSTRACT: For the last decade, the New Jersey (NJ) Department of Health has reported between 42 and 144 new cases each year of "spotted fever group rickettsiosis" (SFGR), a statistic that reflects uncertainty regarding which rickettsial agents (Proteobacteria: Rickettsiaceae: Rickettsia) are infecting NJ residents. To identify the Rickettsia circulating in NJ ticks, we used a combination of conventional and real time PCR approaches to screen 560 Dermacentor variabilis Say and 245 Amblyomma americanum L. obtained from a 1-day state-wide surveillance in May 2018 and an additional 394 D. variabilis collected across NJ in 2013-2018. We found zero D. variabilis infected with Rickettsia rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and, on average, 1.3% infected with presumed nonpathogenic Rickettsia montanensis. We also found zero A. americanum infected with R. rickettsii, and 20% infected with Rickettsia amblyommatis, a prevalence somewhat lower than in more southern states. Overall, we conclude that it is unlikely that R. rickettsii vectored by D. variabilis is a primary cause of SFGR cases in NJ and discuss our findings in the context of known facts and current limitations. We conclude that understanding the causes of SFGR east of the Mississippi will require collaboration among medical doctors, public health authorities, and medical entomologists to follow up presumptive human cases of SFGR with detailed histories of exposure, species-specific molecular assays, and active surveillance of putative vectors and the pathogens they may carry.

SUBMITTER: Occi J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7470542 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Dermacentor (Acari, Ixodida, Ixodidae) of Mexico: hosts, geographical distribution and new records.

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Project description:Throughout North America, Dermacentor spp. ticks are often found feeding on animals and humans, and are known to transmit pathogens, including the Rocky Mountain spotted fever agent. To better define the identity and distribution of Dermacentor spp. removed from dogs and cats in the United States, ticks submitted from 1,457 dogs (n = 2,924 ticks) and 137 cats (n = 209 ticks) from veterinary practices in 44/50 states from February 2018-January 2020 were identified morphologically (n = 3,133); the identity of ticks from regions where Dermacentor andersoni (Stiles) have been reported, and a subset of ticks from other regions, were confirmed molecularly through amplification and sequencing of the ITS2 region and a 16S rRNA gene fragment. Of the ticks submitted, 99.3% (3,112/3,133) were Dermacentor variabilis (Say), 0.4% (12/3,133) were D. andersoni, and 0.3% (9/3,133) were Dermacentor albipictus (Packard). While translocation of pets prior to tick removal cannot be discounted, the majority (106/122; 87%) of Dermacentor spp. ticks removed from dogs and cats in six Rocky Mountain states (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado) were D. variabilis, suggesting this species may be more widespread in the western United States than is currently recognized, or that D. andersoni, if still common in the region, preferentially feeds on hosts other than dogs and cats. Together, these data support the interpretation that D. variabilis is the predominant Dermacentor species found on pets throughout the United States, a finding that may reflect recent shifts in tick distribution.

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