ArticleExperimental & applied acarology2020
Genetic diversity of Rickettsia africae isolates from Amblyomma hebraeum and blood from cattle in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Article in Experimental & applied acarology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tick Diversity, Emerging Tick-Borne Pathogens, and Public Health Implications Across Africa: A Systematic Review.Acta parasitologica · 2025Pooled it
- Tick-Tac-Foe: When Ticks, Trade, and Zoonotic Pathogens Align in African Wet Meat Markets.Public health challenges · 2026Review
- Infection Rates and Characterisation ofMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of ticks and tick-borne pathogens from cattle in selected villages of Greater Letaba Municipality in Limpopo Province, South Africa.Parasitology research · 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
- A systematic review of ticks and tick-borne pathogens of cattle reared by smallholder farmers in South Africa.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2024Review
- Low genetic diversity and population structuring of Amblyomma hebraeum and Rickettsia africae from coastal and inland regions in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.Medical and veterinary entomology · 2023Article
- Review
- Identification and genetic diversity analysis of Rickettsia in Dermacentor nuttalli within inner Mongolia, China.Parasites & vectors · 2022Article
- Entomological risk of African tick-bite fever (Rickettsia africae infection) in Eswatini.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2022Article
- A Pilot Study on the Microbiome ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Knowledge, attitudes and practices on African tick bite fever of rural livestock communities living in a livestock-wildlife interface area in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.BMC infectious diseases · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Rickettsia africae is a re-emerging tick-borne pathogen causing African tick bite fever (ATBF) in humans. Amblyomma variegatum is the principal vector in most sub-Sahara African countries, whereas in South Africa it is A. hebraeum. Reports of high genetic heterogeneity among R. africae isolates in southern Africa have prompted the need for molecular investigations of isolates form South Africa. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence and genetic diversity of R. africae in A. hebraeum collected from cattle, grazing pasture, as well as from blood of cattle in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Amblyomma hebraeum and blood from cattle were screened by PCR and the gltA, ompA, ompB, sca4, and 17kDa genes were sequenced for R. africae from samples collected from Caquba in Port St. Johns along the coastal region in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The overall proportion of adult A. hebraeum that were positive for the gltA and ompA genes was 0.63 (108/180). The overall proportion of nymphs positive for the gltA and ompA genes was 0.62 (23/37) and 0.22 (20/90) from cattle blood. A positive R. africae infection was inferred by analysis of 26 sequences of the ompA, gltA, ompB, 17kDa and sca4 genes. Neighbour-joining and Maximum Likelihood analysis revealed that the study isolates were closely related to R. africae isolates from South Africa deposited in GenBank, forming a clade that was separate from north, east and west African strains. This study provides new information on the epidemiology and phylogeny of R. africae isolated from A. hebraeum ticks in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The heterogeneity observed between R. africae isolates from South Africa deposited in GenBank and R. africae isolates from Africa retrieved from Genbank highlight the importance of differentiation and tracking of the genetic movement among R. africae isolates in southern Africa for the better characterisation of ATBF cases, especially in rural communities and travellers visiting the region.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.