Rickettsias del grupo de las fiebres manchadas en garrapatas del género Amblyomma, capaces de infestar humanos, en áreas rurales del noroeste de Argentina

Abstract

This work was performed to detect Rickettsia species of the spotted fever group in Amblyomma ticks likely to infest humans in rural areas from northwestern Argentina. Free-living ticks were collected and determined as Amblyomma tigrinum, Amblyomma neumanni and Amblyomma tonelliae. Rickettsia infection was determined by polymerase chain reactions which amplify fragments of the rickettsial genes gltA and ompA. A high frequency (35/44, 79.5%) of Candidatus “Rickettsia andeanae” was observed in A. tigrinum ticks, and Candidatus “Rickettsia amblyommii” was found in three out of 14 nymphs of A. neumanni. All 14 Amblyomma tonelliae ticks were negative for rikettsiae. The infection with spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks aggressive for humans reveals the potential risk of exposure to tick-borne pathogens of people inhabiting rural areas of northwestern Argentina.Fil: Saracho Bottero, María Noelia. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; ArgentinaFil: Tarragona, Evelina Luisa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela; ArgentinaFil: Nava, Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Santa Fe. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Rafaela; Argentin