Flea-Borne Rickettsiae in Almaty Oblast, Kazakhstan

To better understand the contribution of  Rickettsia  spp. to prevalent flea-borne diseases in Kazakhstan, we evaluated fleas collected in the Almaty Oblast of southeastern Kazakhstan for the presence of rickettsiae by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR). We found that fleas captured from Kazakhstan’s common Great Gerbil ( Rhombomys opimus ) and corresponding burrows were infected with rickettsiae. The most commonly found rickettsia-infected flea species was  Xenopsylla gerbilli , and the most commonly found rickettsia was  Candidatus  R. asemboensis .  Further studies may include testing these and other fleas samples for the presence of additional disease agents, including  Bartonella  spp. and  Yersinia pestis .