Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae | CDC EID

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Volume 17, Number 5–May 2011
Dispatch
Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks, Germany
Cornelia Silaghi, Dietmar Hamel, Claudia Thiel, Kurt Pfister, and Martin Pfeffer

Author affiliations: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany (C. Silaghi, D. Hamel, C.
Thiel, K. Pfister); and Universität Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany (M. Pfeffer)

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
To explore increased risk for human Rickettsia spp. infection in Germany, we investigated recreational areas and renatured brown coal surface-mining sites (also used for recreation) for the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks. R. raoultii (56.7%), R. slovaca (13.3%), and R. helvetica (>13.4%) were detected in the respective tick species.

Rickettsia species of the spotted fever group are causing emerging infectious diseases (1). Since 1977, Rickettsia slovaca, found in Dermacentor marginatus ticks, was the only known Rickettsia sp. in Germany until 2002, when the following were identified: R. monacensis and R. helvetica in Ixodes ricinus ticks, Rickettsia sp. RpA4 (now R. raoultii) in D. reticulatus ticks, R. felis in Ctenocephalides felis cat fleas, and R. massiliae in I. ricinus ticks (1,2). All of these species cause tick-borne rickettsioses in humans, including tick-borne lymphadenopathy (TIBOLA) (3–7). The aim of this study was to explore the interface between the vector tick and humans by investigating the presence of Rickettsia spp. in ticks at highly frequented recreational areas and renatured brown coal surface-mining sites that also are used for leisure.


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Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae | CDC EID


Suggested Citation for this Article
Silaghi C, Hamel D, Thiel C, Pfister K, Pfeffer M. Spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks, Germany. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2011 May [date cited].
http://www.cdc.gov/EID/content/17/5/890.htm


DOI: 10.3201/eid1705.101445


Comments to the Authors
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Cornelia Silaghi, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Chair of Comparative Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Leopoldstr. 5, 80802 Munich, Germany; email: cornelia.silaghi@tropa.vetmed.uni-muenchen.de