Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Oct 9;8(10):e3152.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003152. eCollection 2014 Oct.

Detection of Rickettsia felis, Rickettsia typhi, Bartonella Species and Yersinia pestis in Fleas (Siphonaptera) from Africa

Hamza Leulmi  1 , Cristina Socolovschi  1 , Anne Laudisoit  2 , Gualbert Houemenou  3 , Bernard Davoust  1 , Idir Bitam  4 , Didier Raoult  1 , Philippe Parola  1
Affiliations

Detection of Rickettsia felis, Rickettsia typhi, Bartonella Species and Yersinia pestis in Fleas (Siphonaptera) from Africa

Hamza Leulmi et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. .

Abstract

Little is known about the presence/absence and prevalence of Rickettsia spp, Bartonella spp. and Yersinia pestis in domestic and urban flea populations in tropical and subtropical African countries.

Methodology/principal findings: Fleas collected in Benin, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were investigated for the presence and identity of Rickettsia spp., Bartonella spp. and Yersinia pestis using two qPCR systems or qPCR and standard PCR. In Xenopsylla cheopis fleas collected from Cotonou (Benin), Rickettsia typhi was detected in 1% (2/199), and an uncultured Bartonella sp. was detected in 34.7% (69/199). In the Lushoto district (United Republic of Tanzania), R. typhi DNA was detected in 10% (2/20) of Xenopsylla brasiliensis, and Rickettsia felis was detected in 65% (13/20) of Ctenocephalides felis strongylus, 71.4% (5/7) of Ctenocephalides canis and 25% (5/20) of Ctenophthalmus calceatus calceatus. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, R. felis was detected in 56.5% (13/23) of Ct. f. felis from Kinshasa, in 26.3% (10/38) of Ct. f. felis and 9% (1/11) of Leptopsylla aethiopica aethiopica from Ituri district and in 19.2% (5/26) of Ct. f. strongylus and 4.7% (1/21) of Echidnophaga gallinacea. Bartonella sp. was also detected in 36.3% (4/11) of L. a. aethiopica. Finally, in Ituri, Y. pestis DNA was detected in 3.8% (1/26) of Ct. f. strongylus and 10% (3/30) of Pulex irritans from the villages of Wanyale and Zaa.

Conclusion: Most flea-borne infections are neglected diseases which should be monitored systematically in domestic rural and urban human populations to assess their epidemiological and clinical relevance. Finally, the presence of Y. pestis DNA in fleas captured in households was unexpected and raises a series of questions regarding the role of free fleas in the transmission of plague in rural Africa, especially in remote areas where the flea density in houses is high.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Sites of the study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bitam I, Dittmar K, Parola P, Whiting MF, Raoult D (2010) Fleas and flea-borne diseases. Int J Infect Dis 14: e667–e676 S1201-9712(10)00029-9 [pii]; 10.1016/j.ijid.2009.11.011 [doi] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Parola P, Davoust B, Raoult D (2005) Tick- and flea-borne rickettsial emerging zoonoses. Vet Res 36: 469–492 10.1051/vetres:2005004 [doi];v4057 [pii] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Eisen RJ, Gage KL (2012) Transmission of flea-borne zoonotic agents. Annu Rev Entomol 57: 61–82 10.1146/annurev-ento-120710-100717 [doi] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Drancourt M (2012) Plague in the genomic area. Clin Microbiol Infect 18: 224–230 10.1111/j.1469-0691.2012.03774.x [doi] - DOI - PubMed
    1. Raoult D, Mouffok N, Bitam I, Piarroux R, Drancourt M (2013) Plague: history and contemporary analysis. J Infect 66: 18–26 S0163-4453(12)00277-0 [pii]; 10.1016/j.jinf.2012.09.010 [doi] - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms

Associated data

LinkOut - more resources