Publication details
Ticks from wildlife animals in South Africa: molecular detection of Rickettsia sp
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| Year of publication | 2021 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | Members of the genus Rickettsia are small, obligate intracellular, Gram-negative bacteria that are distributed throughout the world. The infection can be transmitted through arthropod bites and can cause health problems to the animals and humans, because it is widespread tick-borne diseases zoonoses. The aim of the study was to detect Rickettsia sp. in ticks from South Africa. Ticks were collected during the years 2012-2019 in six provinces of South Africa including Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Free State, Northern Cape, North West, and Gauteng Province. Ticks were taken from dead animals (most often because of a collision with a car). In total, 2003 ticks (154 females, 778 males, 454 nymphs, and 617 larvae) were collected and divided into 854 samples. The DNA from ticks was isolated by NucleoSpin Tissue kit to detect Rickettsia sp. by single PCR. |