Prevalence of Rickettsia felis  DNA in the blood of cats and their fleas in the United States

JR Hawley; SE Shaw; MR Lappin

doi:10.1016/j.jfms.2006.12.005

Prevalence of Rickettsia felis DNA in the blood of cats and their fleas in the United States

JR Hawley, SE Shaw, MR Lappin

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article (Academic Journal) › peer-review

43 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Rickettsia felis is associated with fever, headache, myalgia, and macular rash in some infected humans and has been detected in the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) in many countries around the world. While some naturally exposed cats have been assessed for antibodies against R felis, to our knowledge, no one has reported use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to attempt to amplify R felis DNA from client-owned cats and the fleas collected from them. In this study, we assayed 92 pairs of cat blood and flea extracts from Alabama, Maryland and Texas, using PCR assays that amplify a region of the citrate synthase gene (gltA) and the outer membrane protein B gene (ompB). Of the 92 pairs, 62 of 92 (67.4%) flea extracts and none of the cat blood samples were positive for R felis DNA.

Translated title of the contribution	Prevalence of Rickettsia felis DNA in the blood of cats and their fleas in the United States
Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	258 - 262
Number of pages	5
Journal	Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery
Volume	9 (3)
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfms.2006.12.005
Publication status	Published - Jun 2007

Bibliographical note

Publisher: Elsevier

Access to Document

10.1016/j.jfms.2006.12.005

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

@article{64a1ea038d5b4de5949f9fdbe29ddbc8,

title = "Prevalence of Rickettsia felis DNA in the blood of cats and their fleas in the United States",

abstract = "Rickettsia felis is associated with fever, headache, myalgia, and macular rash in some infected humans and has been detected in the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) in many countries around the world. While some naturally exposed cats have been assessed for antibodies against R felis, to our knowledge, no one has reported use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to attempt to amplify R felis DNA from client-owned cats and the fleas collected from them. In this study, we assayed 92 pairs of cat blood and flea extracts from Alabama, Maryland and Texas, using PCR assays that amplify a region of the citrate synthase gene (gltA) and the outer membrane protein B gene (ompB). Of the 92 pairs, 62 of 92 (67.4%) flea extracts and none of the cat blood samples were positive for R felis DNA.",

author = "JR Hawley and SE Shaw and MR Lappin",

note = "Publisher: Elsevier",

year = "2007",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1016/j.jfms.2006.12.005",

language = "English",

volume = "9 (3)",

pages = "258 -- 262",

journal = "Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery",

issn = "1532-2750",

publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Prevalence of Rickettsia felis DNA in the blood of cats and their fleas in the United States

AU - Hawley, JR

AU - Shaw, SE

AU - Lappin, MR

N1 - Publisher: Elsevier

PY - 2007/6

Y1 - 2007/6

N2 - Rickettsia felis is associated with fever, headache, myalgia, and macular rash in some infected humans and has been detected in the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) in many countries around the world. While some naturally exposed cats have been assessed for antibodies against R felis, to our knowledge, no one has reported use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to attempt to amplify R felis DNA from client-owned cats and the fleas collected from them. In this study, we assayed 92 pairs of cat blood and flea extracts from Alabama, Maryland and Texas, using PCR assays that amplify a region of the citrate synthase gene (gltA) and the outer membrane protein B gene (ompB). Of the 92 pairs, 62 of 92 (67.4%) flea extracts and none of the cat blood samples were positive for R felis DNA.

AB - Rickettsia felis is associated with fever, headache, myalgia, and macular rash in some infected humans and has been detected in the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) in many countries around the world. While some naturally exposed cats have been assessed for antibodies against R felis, to our knowledge, no one has reported use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to attempt to amplify R felis DNA from client-owned cats and the fleas collected from them. In this study, we assayed 92 pairs of cat blood and flea extracts from Alabama, Maryland and Texas, using PCR assays that amplify a region of the citrate synthase gene (gltA) and the outer membrane protein B gene (ompB). Of the 92 pairs, 62 of 92 (67.4%) flea extracts and none of the cat blood samples were positive for R felis DNA.

U2 - 10.1016/j.jfms.2006.12.005

DO - 10.1016/j.jfms.2006.12.005

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

C2 - 17276123

SN - 1532-2750

VL - 9 (3)

SP - 258

EP - 262

JO - Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery

JF - Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery