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Ticks Parasitizing Wild Birds in Portugal: Detection of Rickettsia aeschlimannii, R. helvetica and R. massiliae

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Abstract

From January 2002 to December 2004, 152 ticks were collected from 40 wild birds recovered in Santo André Natural Reserve and Monsanto Forestal Park, Portugal mainland. Five ticks species were identified from 22 species of birds, and new host record were provided for some species. In addition, 32 (21%) ticks were screened by PCR to detect infections with agents belonging to order Rickettsiales: Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia chaffeensis, and Rickettsia spp. PCR amplicons were obtained in 5 (15.6%) tick samples. Rickettsia DNA exhibiting gltA sequences similar to those of Rickettsia aeschilimannii, R. helvetica and R. massiliae were identified in Hyalomma marginatum, Ixodes ventalloi and in Rhipicephalus turanicus, respectively. This is the first report of rickettsiae infections in ticks collected from wild birds in Portugal. Giving the results presented above wild birds play an important role in the maintenance and dissemination of several tick species and associated rickettsiae.

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Acknowledgements

We thank ICN technicians for their valuable contribution in the fieldwork. We also thank Liliana Vitorino for contribution in sequencing alignment and National Institute of Health for supporting this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Estudos de Vectores e Doenças Infecciosas, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Avenida da Liberdade 5, 2965-575, Águas de Moura, Portugal

    Maria Margarida Santos-Silva, Rita Sousa, Ana Sofia Santos & Fátima Bacellar

  2. Centro de Recuperação de Animais Silvestres/Parque Florestal Monsanto, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal

    Pedro Melo

  3. Instituto da Conservação da Natureza, Lisboa, Portugal

    Victor Encarnação

Authors
  1. Maria Margarida Santos-Silva
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  2. Rita Sousa
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  3. Ana Sofia Santos
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  4. Pedro Melo
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  5. Victor Encarnação
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  6. Fátima Bacellar
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Correspondence to Maria Margarida Santos-Silva.

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Santos-Silva, M.M., Sousa, R., Santos, A.S. et al. Ticks Parasitizing Wild Birds in Portugal: Detection of Rickettsia aeschlimannii, R. helvetica and R. massiliae . Exp Appl Acarol 39, 331–338 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-006-9008-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10493-006-9008-3

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