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First isolation ofRickettsia helvetica fromIxodes ricinus ticks in France

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Abstract

Two rickettsial isolates recovered fromIxodes ricinus ticks in Puy-de-Dôme (Central France) were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blot immunoassay, restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, and sequencing of a portion of the citrate-synthase gene. By these methods, the isolates appeared to be identical to a member of the spotted fever group rickettsiae,Rickettsia helvetica. This first isolation ofRickettsia helvetica in France has epidemiologic importance; a serosurvey on Mediterranean spotted fever conducted previously in Puy-de-Dôme, where the infection is not endemic, demonstrated a high seroprevalence of nonspecific antibodies directed against spotted fever group rickettsiae lipopolysaccharides, and thus the possibility of infection due to a rickettsia different fromRickettsia conorii was suggested. The isolation ofRickettsia helvetica in anthropophilic ticks in the same area further supports this hypothesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité des Rickettsies, Université de la Méditerranée, CNRS UPRES A 6020, Faculté de Médecine, 27 Boulevard Jean Moulin, F-13385, Marseille Cedex 5, France

    P. Parola, L. Beati & D. Raoult

  2. Laboratoire de Parasitologie, Hôpital Hôtel Dieu, Boulevard Léon Malfreyt, F-63003, Clermont-Ferrand Cedex, France

    M. Cambon

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  1. P. Parola
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  2. L. Beati
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  3. M. Cambon
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  4. D. Raoult
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Parola, P., Beati, L., Cambon, M. et al. First isolation ofRickettsia helvetica fromIxodes ricinus ticks in France. Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 17, 95–100 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01682163

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