Prevalence of antibodies to spotted fever group rickettsiae in humans and domestic animals in a Brazilian spotted fever-endemic area in the state of São Paulo, Brazil: Serologic evidence for infection by Rickettsia rickettsii and another spotted fever group rickettsia

Maurício C. Horta, Marcelo B. Labruna, Luis A. Sangioni, Manoella C.B. Vianna, Solange M. Gennari, Márcio A.M. Galvão, Claudio L. Mafra, Odilon Vidotto, Teresinha T.S. Schumaker, David H. Walker

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

118 Scopus citations

Abstract

In serum samples obtained from all the healthy humans, horses, dogs, and donkeys present on three farms in the Pedreira Municipality, an endemic area for Brazilian spotted fever, an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) detected antibodies against Rickettsia rickettsii in 17 (77.3%) horses, 5 (31.3%) dogs (titers ranging from 64 to 4,048), and none of 4 donkeys or 50 humans. Five canine and eight equine sera with high antibody titers to R. rickettsii were also tested by IFA against R. bellii, R. akari, and R. africae antigens. Sera from two horses and two dogs that showed similar high antibody titers against two rickettsial antigens were evaluated after cross-absorption. Sera from seven horses and two dogs contained antibodies specific for R. rickettsii, and one dog serum had antibodies against a Rickettsia species very closely related to R. africae. The latter may have been caused by infection with the recently identified COOPERI strain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)93-97
Number of pages5
JournalAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume71
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2004

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Infectious Diseases
  • Virology
  • Parasitology

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