Bartonella in Virginia Ticks

Detection of Two Bartonella tamiae-Like Sequences in Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodidae) Using 16S-23S Intergenic Spacer Region-Specific Primers

Authors: Billeter, Sarah A.; Miller, Melissa K.; Breitschwerdt, Edward B.; Levy, Michael G.

Source: Journal of Medical Entomology, Volume 45, Number 1, January 2008 , pp. 176-179(4)

Publisher: Entomological Society of America

Abstract:

Four hundred and sixty-six questing Amblyomma americanum (L.) (Acari: Ixodidae) from Carolina County, VA, and 98 questing A. americanum from Chatham County, NC, were screened by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the Bartonella 16S-23S intergenic spacer region.

Two amplicons, ≈270-280 bp, were detected in two ticks from Virginia. Based upon PCR and sequencing, an adult male and adult female tick harbored DNA sequences closely related to Bartonella tamiae (DQ395180).

Bartonella DNA was not detected in A. americanum from North Carolina. Potential transmission ofBartonella spp. by A. americanum should be the focus of future experimental studies.

Keywords: Bartonella; Amblyomma americanum; PCR