ArticleVector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.)2014
High prevalence of Rickettsia africae variants in Amblyomma variegatum ticks from domestic mammals in rural western Kenya: implications for human health.
Article in Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tick-Borne Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review of Pathogens, Research Focus, and Implications for Public Health.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Data release: targeted systematic literature search for tick and tick-borne pathogen distributions in six countries in sub-Saharan Africa from 1901 to 2020.Parasites & vectors · 2024Pooled it
- Geographical distribution of ixodid ticks and tick-borne pathogens of domestic animals in Ethiopia: a systematic review.Parasites & vectors · 2022Pooled it
- Tick-Tac-Foe: When Ticks, Trade, and Zoonotic Pathogens Align in African Wet Meat Markets.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Mitogenomics of the tropical bont tick Amblyomma variegatum reveals vertical and horizontal transmission of Rickettsia africae.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Molecular Profiling of Ticks and Associated Pathogens: First Report ofTransboundary and emerging diseases · 2025Article
- Risk Factors for Spotted Fever Group Rickettsioses in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Nationwide Survey of Vector-Borne Diseases in Rodents and Mites in Korea:Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Rickettsia africae infections in sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic literature review of epidemiological studies and summary of case reports.Tropical medicine & international health : TM & IH · 2024Review
- First Molecular Identification of Rickettsia aeschlimannii and Rickettsia africae in Ticks from Ghana.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Seroprevalence ofVeterinary world · 2023Article
- Distribution and Prevalence ofMicroorganisms · 2023Review
- Article
- Ticks are unlikely to play a role in leprosy transmission in the Comoros (East Africa) as they do not harbourFrontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Review
- Entomological risk of African tick-bite fever (Rickettsia africae infection) in Eswatini.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- Rickettsia africae infection rates and transovarial transmission in Amblyomma hebraeum ticks in Mnisi, Bushbuckridge, South Africa.Experimental & applied acarology · 2022Article
- Survey of Ticks and Tick-Borne Rickettsial and Protozoan Pathogens in Eswatini.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Seroprevalence of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in extensively managed sheep and goats in Nigeria, West Africa.Tropical animal health and production · 2021Article
- Tick-borne pathogens, including Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, at livestock markets and slaughterhouses in western Kenya.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 7 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Tick-borne spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsioses are emerging human diseases caused by obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria of the genus Rickettsia. Despite being important causes of systemic febrile illnesses in travelers returning from sub-Saharan Africa, little is known about the reservoir hosts of these pathogens. We conducted surveys for rickettsiae in domestic animals and ticks in a rural setting in western Kenya. Of the 100 serum specimens tested from each species of domestic ruminant 43% of goats, 23% of sheep, and 1% of cattle had immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the SFG rickettsiae. None of these sera were positive for IgG against typhus group rickettsiae. We detected Rickettsia africae-genotype DNA in 92.6% of adult Amblyomma variegatum ticks collected from domestic ruminants, but found no evidence of the pathogen in blood specimens from cattle, goats, or sheep. Sequencing of a subset of 21 rickettsia-positive ticks revealed R. africae variants in 95.2% (20/21) of ticks tested. Our findings show a high prevalence of R. africae variants in A. variegatum ticks in western Kenya, which may represent a low disease risk for humans. This may provide a possible explanation for the lack of African tick-bite fever cases among febrile patients in Kenya.
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