Diversity of Rickettsiae in Feeding and Questing Ticks Collected From a Malaysian Forest Reserve Area

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 f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of medical entomology Vol. 56; no. 2; pp. 547 - 552
Main Authors Kho, Kai Ling, Tan, Poai Ean, Tay, Sun Tee
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published US Entomological Society of America 25.02.2019
Oxford University Press
Subjects
Animals
Biodiversity
Explosions
Feeding
Female
forest reserve
Forest reserves
Forests
Gene sequencing
Genes
Genetic relationship
Health aspects
Identification and classification
Indigenous peoples
Local communities
Malaysia
Male
Membrane proteins
Protein A
Questing
Rats
Rickettsia
Rickettsiae
Rickettsieae - genetics
Rickettsieae - isolation & purification
Species diversity
Ticks
Ticks - microbiology
VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES, SURVEILLANCE, PREVENTION
Vectors
Virus-vector relationships
Malaysia
rickettsia
Malaysia
ticks
forest reserve
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Summary: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.
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ISSN:0022-2585
1938-2928
DOI:10.1093/jme/tjy168