Co-feeding as a route for transmission of Rickettsia conorii israelensis between Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks

Rickettsia conorii is widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, is the recognized vector of R. conorii. In this study, we assessed the efficiency of R. conorii israelensis transmission between co-feeding Rh. sanguineus ticks. Infected Rh. sanguineu...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental & applied acarology 2010-12, Vol.52 (4), p.383-392
Main Authors: Zemtsova, G, Killmaster, L. F, Mumcuoglu, K. Y, Levin, M. L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Animal Genetics and Genomics
Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Animals
Arthropod Vectors - microbiology
Arthropod Vectors - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Co-feeding
Dogs
Dogs - microbiology
Dogs - parasitology
Entomology
Feeding Behavior
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Host-Parasite Interactions
immunity
infection
Ixodidae
Life Sciences
Medically important nuisances and vectors, pests of stored products and materials: population survey and control
Nymphs
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
Rhipicephalus sanguineus - microbiology
Rhipicephalus sanguineus - physiology
Rickettsia conorii
Rickettsia conorii - physiology
Ticks
Transstadial transmission
Vectors
Vectors. Intermediate hosts
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Rickettsia conorii is widely distributed in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, is the recognized vector of R. conorii. In this study, we assessed the efficiency of R. conorii israelensis transmission between co-feeding Rh. sanguineus ticks. Infected Rh. sanguineus adults and uninfected nymphs were fed simultaneously upon either naïve dogs or a dog previously exposed to this agent. When ticks were placed upon naïve dogs, 92-100% of nymphs acquired the infection and 80-88% of infected engorged nymphs transmitted it transstadially. When ticks were placed upon a seropositive dog, only 8-28.5% of recipient nymphs became infected. Our results establish the first evidence for efficient natural transmission of R. conorii israelensis between co-feeding ticks upon both naïve and seropositive dogs. This route of transmission can ensure continuous circulation of R. conorii israelensis in tick vectors even in the absence of naïve reservoir hosts.
ISSN:0168-8162
1572-9702
DOI:10.1007/s10493-010-9375-7