Souza Ugo, Dall'Agnol Bruno, Michel Thais, Webster Anelise, Weck Barbara, Doyle Rovaina, Kasper Carlos B, Soares João, Martins João Ricardo, Trigo Tatiane C, Ott Ricardo, Jardim Márcia M A, Reck José
Instituto de Pesquisas Veterinárias Desidério Finamor (IPVDF), Estrada do Conde, 6000, mail box 47, Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, 92990-000, Brazil.
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.
Parasitol Res. 2018 Oct;117(10):3293-3298. doi: 10.1007/s00436-018-5996-2. Epub 2018 Jul 6.
Spotted fever (SF) is a tick-borne disease associated with Rickettsia spp.. In the Pampa biome, Southern Brazil, cases of SF seem to be strongly linked with the practice of hunting wild animals. An investigation of rickettsiae in tick species found on wild animals could provide more information regarding the rickettsiosis enzootic cycle. The aim of this study is to describe the results of a molecular survey of Rickettsia spp. in the Neotropical deer tick, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Cooley, 1946 (Acari: Ixodidae), from the Brazilian Pampa. Ticks were obtained from 14 road-killed gray brocket deer, Mazama gouazoubira (Artiodactyla: Cervidae), found in nine different municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul state, Southern Brazil. Ticks were processed individually to obtain genomic DNA, and then Rickettsia spp. was investigated using a set of PCR reactions that amplified the rickettsial fragments of the gltA, ompA, and htrA genes. Of the 24 tick samples tested, DNA of Rickettsia parkeri sensu stricto (s.s.) was found in 11 H. juxtakochi specimens collected in two different areas of the Brazilian Pampa. This is the first report of R. parkeri s.s. (the main agent associated with SF in the Uruguayan, Argentinian, and Brazilian Pampa) in H. juxtakochi ticks. These findings indicate that R. parkeri s.s. may be much more common and widely distributed in the Pampa biome than previously assumed. Moreover, H. juxtakochi ticks and gray brocket deer could participate in the potential spillover of R. parkeri s.s. from endemic to non-endemic areas in the South American Pampa.
斑点热（SF）是一种由立克次氏体属引起的蜱传疾病。在巴西南部的潘帕生物群落中，SF病例似乎与捕猎野生动物的行为密切相关。对野生动物身上发现的蜱种中的立克次氏体进行调查，可能会提供更多关于立克次体病动物疫源地循环的信息。本研究的目的是描述对来自巴西潘帕的新热带鹿蜱（血红扇头蜱，Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Cooley，1946年，蜱螨目：硬蜱科）中立克次氏体属进行分子调查的结果。蜱虫取自14只在巴西南部南里奥格兰德州九个不同市镇发现的因道路交通事故死亡的灰短角鹿（马扎马鹿，Mazama gouazoubira，偶蹄目：鹿科）。对蜱虫进行单独处理以获取基因组DNA，然后使用一组PCR反应对立克次氏体属进行调查，这些反应可扩增gltA、ompA和htrA基因的立克次氏体片段。在测试的24个蜱虫样本中，在巴西潘帕两个不同地区采集的11只血红扇头蜱标本中发现了狭义帕克立克次氏体（Rickettsia parkeri sensu stricto，s.s.）的DNA。这是狭义帕克立克次氏体（乌拉圭、阿根廷和巴西潘帕地区与SF相关的主要病原体）在血红扇头蜱中的首次报道。这些发现表明，狭义帕克立克次氏体在潘帕生物群落中可能比以前认为的更为常见和分布广泛。此外，血红扇头蜱和灰短角鹿可能参与了狭义帕克立克次氏体从南美洲潘帕的地方病区向非地方病区的潜在溢出。
