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Ecology of a tick-borne spotted fever in southern Brazil

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Abstract

Rio Grande do Sul is the southernmost state of Brazil, bordering Uruguay. Clinical cases of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiosis were recently reported in Rio Grande do Sul. None of these cases was lethal, and all were confirmed by seroconversion to R. rickettsii antigens. Because serological cross-reactions are well known to occur between different SFG agents, the SFG agent responsible for the clinical cases remains unknown in Rio Grande do Sul, where no rickettsial agent is known to infect ticks. During 2013–2014, ticks and blood sera samples were collected from domestic dogs and wild small mammals, and from the vegetation in a SFG-endemic area of Rio Grande do Sul. Dogs were infested by Amblyomma ovale adult ticks, whereas small mammals were infested by immature stages of A. ovale, Ixodes loricatus, and adults of I. loricatus. Ticks collected on vegetation were adults of A. ovale, and immature stages of A. ovale, Amblyomma dubitatum, and Amblyomma longirostre. Three Rickettsia species were detected: Rickettsia bellii in I. loricatus, Rickettsia amblyommii in A. longirostre, and a Rickettsia parkeri-like agent (Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest) in A. ovale. Seroreactivity to SFG antigens were detected in 19.7 % (27/137) canine and 37.5 % (15/40) small mammal sera, with highest titers to R. parkeri. Results indicate that the R. parkeri-like agent, strain Atlantic rainforest, is circulating between A. ovale ticks, dogs and small mammals in the study area, suggesting that this SFG pathogen could be one of the etiological agents of SFG clinical cases in Rio Grande do Sul.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP process 2012/21915-4), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), and Coordenadoria de Apoio a Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento (CAPES), and has been authorized by the “Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade” (authorization SISBIO 38502-1) and the Ethical Committee in Animal Research of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of São Paulo (Protocol 2908/2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Prof. Orlando Marques de Paiva, 87, Cidade Universitária, São Paulo, SP, 05508-270, Brazil

    Felipe S. Krawczak, Lina C. Binder, Francisco B. Costa, Jonas Moraes-Filho, Thiago F. Martins, Fábio Gregori, Gina Polo & Marcelo B. Labruna

  2. Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

    Caroline S. Oliveira

  3. Mestrado em Medicina Veterinária e Bem Estar Animal, Universidade de Santo Amaro, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Jonas Moraes-Filho

  4. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, Brazil

    Jonas Sponchiado

  5. Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil

    Geruza L. Melo

  6. Secretaria de Vigilância em Saúde, Ministério da Saúde, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Stefan V. Oliveira

Authors
  1. Felipe S. Krawczak
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  2. Lina C. Binder
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  3. Caroline S. Oliveira
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  4. Francisco B. Costa
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  5. Jonas Moraes-Filho
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  6. Thiago F. Martins
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  7. Jonas Sponchiado
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  8. Geruza L. Melo
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  9. Fábio Gregori
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  10. Gina Polo
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  11. Stefan V. Oliveira
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  12. Marcelo B. Labruna
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcelo B. Labruna.

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Krawczak, F.S., Binder, L.C., Oliveira, C.S. et al. Ecology of a tick-borne spotted fever in southern Brazil. Exp Appl Acarol 70, 219–229 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-016-0070-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-016-0070-1

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