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Extraction of Saliva, Haemolymph, Salivary Glands, and Midgut from Individual Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae)
Published on: October 31, 2025
Rickettsia felis and Bartonella henselae in fleas from Lebanon
Pamela Angue Mba1, Jean-Lou Marié, Jean-Marc Rolain
1Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes, UMR CNRS 6236-IRD UMR 198, Faculté de Médecine, WHO Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod Borne Bacterial Diseases, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France.
Abstract:
A total of 155 fleas collected in 2009 in Lebanon from 16 cats (104 Ctenocephalides felis specimens, 1 C. canis specimen) and 2 dogs (50 C. canis specimens) were tested for the presence of Rickettsia spp. and Bartonella spp. using molecular methods, including real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR), regular PCR, and sequencing of amplified PCR products. Rickettsia felis, the agent of the emerging flea-borne spotted fever in humans, was identified in 17 (16%) C. felis cat fleas. Bartonella henselae, an agent of cat scratch disease, was identified in three (2.9%) C. felis. Our results emphasize the potential risk of these emerging flea-borne infections in Lebanon.
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