Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
Clin Microbiol Infect. 2011 Feb;17(2):176-80. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2010.03224.x.
Rickettsioses are recognized as important emerging vector-borne infections of humans worldwide. Previous reports documented the presence of two spotted fever group rickettsiae in Israel, Rickettsia conorii israelensis and Rickettsia felis. The aim of this study was to characterize the diversity of rickettsiae in ticks collected from vegetation and the ground, from different parts of Israel. Non-engorged questing adult ticks were collected from 13 localities. A total of 131 tick pools, 83 of Rhipicephalus turanicus and 48 of Rhipicephalus sanguineus (each with 2-10 ticks per pool), were included in this study. In addition, 13 Hyalomma sp. ticks were collected. The ticks were molecularly screened for rickettsiae, targeting the citrate synthase (gltA) and the outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene loci. Rickettsia massiliae ompA DNA (100% sequence identity; 180 bp) was detected in 32 Rh. turanicus and 12 Rh. sanguineus tick pools. R. conorii israelensis was detected in three Rh. sanguineus pools. Rickettsia sibirica mongolitimonae ompA DNA (100% sequence identity; 182 bp) was found in one Hyalomma tick. This study reports the first detection of R. massiliae and R. sibirica mongolitimonae in ticks from Israel. This is the first report describing the presence of these human pathogens in the Middle East.
立克次体病被认为是全球重要的新兴媒介传播感染人类的疾病。先前的报告记录了在以色列存在两种斑点热群立克次体，即康氏立克次体和猫立克次体。本研究的目的是描述从以色列不同地区采集的植被和地面上的蜱中存在的立克次体的多样性。从 13 个地点采集了未吸血的成年游走蜱。总共收集了 131 个蜱群，其中 83 个是钝缘蜱，48 个是血红扇头蜱（每个蜱群有 2-10 只蜱），此外还收集了 13 只璃眼蜱。这些蜱被分子筛选以检测立克次体，针对柠檬酸合酶（gltA）和外膜蛋白 A（ompA）基因座。在 32 个钝缘蜱和 12 个血红扇头蜱蜱群中检测到马耳他立克次体 ompA DNA（100%序列同一性；180 bp）。在 3 个血红扇头蜱群中检测到康氏立克次体以色列亚种。在一只璃眼蜱中发现了西伯利亚立克次体 mongolitimonae ompA DNA（100%序列同一性；182 bp）。本研究报告了在以色列的蜱中首次检测到马耳他立克次体和西伯利亚立克次体 mongolitimonae。这是首次在中东地区描述这些人类病原体的存在。
