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. 2010 Apr 6;4(4):e654.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000654.

Coxiella burnetii in humans and ticks in rural Senegal

Oleg Mediannikov  1 , Florence Fenollar, Cristina Socolovschi, Georges Diatta, Hubert Bassene, Jean-François Molez, Cheikh Sokhna, Jean-François Trape, Didier Raoult
Affiliations

Coxiella burnetii in humans and ticks in rural Senegal

Oleg Mediannikov et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Expression of concern in

Abstract

Background: Q fever is a worldwide zoonotic disease caused by Coxiella burnetii. Epidemiologically, animals are considered reservoirs and humans incidental hosts.

Methodology/principal findings: We investigated Q fever in rural Senegal. Human samples (e.g., sera, saliva, breast milk, feces) were screened in the generally healthy population of two villages of the Sine-Saloum region. Ticks were collected in four regions. Seroprevalence was studied by immunofluorescence, and all other samples were tested by two qPCR systems for detection of C. burnetii. Positive samples were genotyped (multispacer typing) by amplification and sequencing of three spacers. Strains were isolated by cell culture. We found that the seroprevalence may be as high as 24.5% (59 of 238 studied) in Dielmo village. We identified spontaneous excretion of C. burnetii by humans through faeces and milk. Hard and soft ticks (8 species) were infected in 0-37.6%. We identified three genotypes of C. burnetii. The previously identified genotype 6 was the most common in ticks in all studied regions and the only one found in human samples. Three strains of genotype 6 of C. burnetii were also recovered from soft tick Ornithodoros sonrai. Two other genotypes found in ticks, 35 and 36, were identified for the first time.

Conclusions/significance: Q fever should be considered a significant public health threat in Senegal. Humans, similar to other mammals, may continuously excrete C. burnetii.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Map of Senegal with the locations of sample collection.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Ticks collected and studies.
Hyalomma marginatum rufipes, male (A), female (B); Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi, male (C), female (D); Amblyomma variegatum, male (E), female (F); Rhipicephalus (Bophilus) decoloratus, male (G), female (H); Hyalomma truncatum, male (I), female (J); Rhipicephalus guilhoni, male (K); Ornithodoros sonrai (L).
Figure 3
Figure 3. NJ semicircular unrooted tree with proportionally transformed branches showing the relationship of genotypes identified in this study with other C. burnetii genotypes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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