Spotted-fever group Rickettsia in Dermacentor variabilis, Maryland

• Published in: Emerging infectious diseases Vol. 10; no. 8; pp. 1478 - 1481
• Main Authors: Ammerman, Nicole C, Swanson, Katherine I, Anderson, Jennifer M, Schwartz, Timothy R, Seaberg, Eric C, Glass, Gregory E, Norris, Douglas E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States U.S. National Center for Infectious Diseases 01-08-2004; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Subjects: Animals; Arachnid Vectors - microbiology; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - genetics; Citrate (si)-Synthase - genetics; Dermacentor - microbiology; Dermacentor variabilis; Dispatch; Female; Humans; Male; Maryland; Maryland - epidemiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; Rickettsia; Rickettsia - classification; Rickettsia - genetics; Rickettsia montanensis; Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever; Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - epidemiology; Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever - microbiology; Sequence Analysis, DNA; SFG Rickettsia; Maryland; USA, Maryland
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059
• DOI: 10.3201/eid1008.030882

Three-hundred ninety-two adult Dermacentor variabilis were collected from six Maryland counties during the spring, summer, and fall of 2002. Infection prevalence for spotted fever group Rickettsia was 3.8%, as determined by polymerase chain reaction. Single strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis followed by sequencing indicated that all infections represented a single rickettsial taxon, Rickettsia montanensis.