English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Background  Tick-borne rickettsioses are caused by obligate intracellular bacteria belonging to the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae. Although Spotted Fever is prevalent in the Middle East, no reports for the presence of tick-borne pathogens are available or any studies on the epidemiology of this disease in the West Bank. We aimed to identify the circulating hard tick vectors and genetically characterize SFG  Rickettsia  species in ixodid ticks from the West Bank-Palestinian territories.    Methodology/Principal Findings  A total of 1,123 ixodid ticks belonging to eight species ( Haemaphysalis parva ,  Haemaphysalis adleri ,  Rhipicephalus turanicus ,  Rhipicephalus sanguineus ,  Rhipicephalus bursa ,  Hyalomma dromedarii ,  Hyalomma aegyptium  and  Hyalomma impeltatum ) were collected from goats, sheep, camels, dogs, a wolf, a horse and a tortoise in different localities throughout the West Bank during the period of January-April, 2014. A total of 867 ticks were screened for the presence of rickettsiae by PCR targeting a partial sequence of the  ompA  gene followed by sequence analysis. Two additional genes,  17 kDa  and  16SrRNA  were also targeted for further characterization of the detected  Rickettsia  species. Rickettsial DNA was detected in 148 out of the 867 (17%) tested ticks. The infection rates in  Rh .  turanicus ,  Rh .  sanguineus ,  H .  adleri ,  H .  parva ,  H .  dromedarii , and  H .  impeltatum  ticks were 41.7, 11.6, 16.7, 16.2, 11.8 and 20%, respectively. None of the ticks, belonging to the species  Rh .  bursa  and  H .  aegyptium , were infected. Four SFG rickettsiae were identified:  Rickettsia massiliae ,  Rickettsia africae ,  Candidatus  Rickettsia barbariae and  Candidatus  Rickettsia goldwasserii.    Significance  The results of this study demonstrate the geographic distribution of SFG rickettsiae and clearly indicate the presence of at least four of them in collected ticks. Palestinian clinicians should be aware of emerging tick-borne diseases in the West Bank, particularly infections due to  R .  massiliae  and  R .  africae .

Molecular Detection and Identification of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks Collected from the West Bank, Palestinian Territories