Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
J Med Entomol. 2019 Feb 25;56(2):547-552. doi: 10.1093/jme/tjy168.
High seropositivity to Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia felis has been reported in Malaysian indigenous community living in settlements adjacent to forest areas. The current study was conducted to determine the type and distribution of rickettsiae in feeding and questing ticks that were collected from a forest reserve area at Kuala Lompat in Pahang, Malaysia. Using PCR assays targeting citrate synthase (gltA), outer membrane protein A (ompA) and B (ompB) genes, rickettsiae were detected from approximately one-third of 98 ticks (mainly Dermacentor and Haemaphysalis spp.) collected from the forest reserve. BLAST analysis reveals the predominance of Rickettsia sp. RF2125 in both feeding and questing ticks and Rickettsia sp. TCM1 in the questing ticks. Sequences exhibiting close genetic relationship with Rickettsia raoultii, Rickettsia tamurae, Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, and Rickettsia asiatica were also detected from the ticks. This study highlights the diversity of rickettsial species and potential tick vectors which may contribute to the high seropositivity observed among the local communities.
在马来西亚居住在毗邻森林地区定居点的土著社区中，已经报道了对康氏立克次体和猫立克次体的高血清阳性率。本研究旨在确定从马来西亚彭亨州 Kuala Lompat 的森林保护区采集的吸血和游离蜱中存在的立克次体的类型和分布。使用针对柠檬酸合酶（gltA）、外膜蛋白 A（ompA）和 B（ompB）基因的 PCR 检测，从森林保护区采集的约 98 只蜱（主要是盾板属和血蜱属）中检测到了立克次体。BLAST 分析显示，在吸血和游离蜱中，主要是 RF2125 立克次体，而在游离蜱中主要是 TCM1 立克次体。从蜱中还检测到了与拉乌尔立克次体、玉木立克次体、黑龙江立克次体和亚洲立克次体密切相关的序列。本研究强调了立克次体物种和潜在的蜱媒介的多样性，这可能导致当地社区中观察到的高血清阳性率。
