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Lopes, M.G.; Junior, J.M.; Foster, R.J.; Harmsen, B.J.; Sanchez, E.; Martins, R.F.; Quigley, H.; Marcili, A.; Labruna, M.B.
Ticks and rickettsiae from wildlife in Belize, Central America
2016  Parasites & Vectors (9:62): 1-7

Background The agents of spotted fevers in Latin America are _Rickettsia rickettsii_, _R. parkeri_,_ Rickettsia sp_. strain Atlantic rainforest, and _R. massiliae_. In Continental Central America, _R. rickettsii_ remains the only known pathogenic tick-borne rickettsia. In the present study, ticks were collected from wild mammals in natural areas of Belize. Besides providing new data of ticks from Belize, we investigated rickettsial infection in some of these ticks. Our results provide ticks harboring rickettsial agents for the first time in Central America. Methods Between 2010 and 2015, wild mammals were lived-trapped in the tropical broadleaf moist forests of central and southern Belize. Ticks were collected from the animals and identified to species by morphological and molecular analysis (DNA sequence of the tick mitochondrial 16S RNA gene). Some of the ticks were tested for rickettsial infection by molecular methods (DNA sequences of the rickettsial _gltA_ and _ompA_ genes). Results A total of 84 ticks were collected from 8 individual hosts, as follows: Amblyomma pacae from 3 Cuniculus paca; _Amblyomma ovale _and _Amblyomma coelebs_ from a _Nasua narica_; _A. ovale_ from an _Eira Barbara_; _A. ovale_, _Amblyomma_ cf. _oblongoguttatum_, and _Ixodes affinis_ from a _Puma concolor_; and _A. ovale_, _A. coelebs_, _A_. cf. _oblongoguttatum_, and _I. affinis_ from two _Panthera onca_. Three rickettsial agents were detected: _Rickettsia amblyommii_ in _A. pacae_, _Rickettsia_ sp. strain Atlantic rainforest in _A. ovale_, and _Rickettsia_ sp. _endosymbiont_ in _Ixodes affinis_. Conclusions The present study provides unprecedented records of ticks harboring rickettsial agents in the New World. An emerging rickettsial pathogen of South America, Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest, is reported for the first time in Central America. Besides expanding the distribution of 3 rickettsial agents in Central America, our results highlight the possible occurrence of Rickettsia sp. strain Atlantic rainforest-caused spotted fever human cases in Belize, since its possible vector, _A. ovale_, is recognized as one of the most important human-biting ticks in the Neotropical region.

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