ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2014
Detection of Rickettsia felis, Rickettsia typhi, Bartonella Species and Yersinia pestis in Fleas (Siphonaptera) from Africa.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
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- A need for null models in understanding disease transmission: the example of Mycobacterium ulcerans (Buruli ulcer disease).FEMS microbiology reviews · 2022Pooled it
- First molecular evidence of Rickettsia spp. in Triatoma rubrofasciata: implications for vector ecology and zoonotic transmission.Parasites & vectors · 2026Article
- Molecular detection and characterization ofInfection ecology & epidemiology · 2025Article
- Molecular Evidence of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in Ticks and Fleas Collected from Some Wild and Domestic Animals in Different Biotopes in Algeria.Journal of arthropod-borne diseases · 2024Article
- Molecular detection of Rickettsia species in ectoparasites collected from two southern provinces of Cambodia.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Metagenomic Detection of Bacterial Zoonotic Pathogens among Febrile Patients, Tanzania, 2007-2009Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Flea infestation of rodent and their community structure in frequent and non-frequent plague outbreak areas in Mbulu district, northern Tanzania.International journal for parasitology. Parasites and wildlife · 2024Review
- Molecular Surveillance ofArchives of Razi Institute · 2024Article
- Immunogenetics, sylvatic plague and its vectors: insights from the pathogen reservoir Mastomys natalensis in Tanzania.Immunogenetics · 2023Article
- Evolution of MALDI-TOF MS Profiles from Lice and Fleas Preserved in Alcohol over Time.Insects · 2023Article
- Seasonality and other risk factors for fleas infestations in domestic dogs and cats.Medical and veterinary entomology · 2023Article
- Feeding on aPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Detection of Potential ZoonoticMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- High Genetic Diversity andFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2022Article
- Molecular Identification, Transcriptome Sequencing and Functional Annotation of Pulex irritans.Acta parasitologica · 2021Article
- Mastomys natalensis (Smith, 1834) as a natural host for Schistosoma haematobium (Bilharz, 1852) Weinland, 1858 x Schistosoma bovis Sonsino, 1876 introgressive hybrids.Parasitology research · 2021Article
- Describing fine spatiotemporal dynamics of rat fleas in an insular ecosystem enlightens abiotic drivers of murine typhus incidence in humans.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2021Article
- Rodent Ectoparasites in the Middle East: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Manifestations and Management of Flea-Borne Rickettsioses.Research and reports in tropical medicine · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
unlabelledLittle 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
findingsFleas 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.
conclusionMost 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.
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