Spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks and fleas from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Abstract Little is known about the prevalence of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae in ticks and fleas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2008, 12 Amblyomma compressum ticks were collected from 3 pangolins ( Manis gigantea ). Two Haemaphysalis punctaleachi ticks were collected from 2 African civets ( Civettictis civetta congica ), and one was collected from an antelope ( Onotragus leche ). A total of 111 Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks, 23 Ctenocephalides canis fleas, 39 C. felis fleas, and 5 Trichodectes canis lice were sampled from 19 dogs. One C. canis flea was collected from a human. Six of the 12 A. compressum ticks were positive for rickettsial DNA, as determined by genus-specific qPCR. The ompA gene sequences amplified from positive samples showed 100% homology with Rickettsia africae (GenBank accession number CP001612 ). The detection of Ri. africae in A. compressum ticks, which are highly specialized parasites of pangolins, is consistent with our previous data showing the presence of Ri. africae in A. compressum ticks from Liberia. No other ticks contained rickettsial DNA. A total of 9 C. canis fleas (39%, 9/23) and 37 C. felis fleas (95%, 37/39) that was collected from dogs and one C. canis flea collected from a human harbored Ri. felis .