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Published on: October 31, 2025
Isolation of rickettsia helvetica from ticks in Slovakia
Z Sekeyová1, O Mediannikov, G Subramanian
1Institute of Virology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9,845 05 Bratislava, Slovak Republic.
Unlabelled:
To date, only three rickettsial species have been found in ticks in Slovakia by serological and/or molecular-biological techniques, namely Rickettsia slovaca, Candidatus rickettsia IRS, and Rickettsia raoultii. Recently, we succeeded in isolation of the forth species, Rickettsia helvetica from Ixodes ricinus, the most frequent tick in Slovakia. The isolation, positive for 10% of tested ticks, was performed on XTC cells by the shell-vial technique, Gimenez staining and light microscopy. The infected cell cultures contained rod-shaped particles morphologically identical to rickettsiae. The isolation was confirmed by direct detection of a fragment of the R. helvetica gene for citrate synthase in the positive ticks by PCR and its subsequent cloning, sequencing and comparison with the database.
Keywords:
Rickettsia helvetica; isolation; Ixodes ricinus; Slovakia.
Insights
Researchers isolated Rickettsia helvetica, a fourth rickettsial species, from the common Slovak tick Ixodes ricinus. This finding expands the known tick-borne pathogens in Slovakia.
Area of Science:
- Veterinary Microbiology
- Tick-borne Pathogens
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Limited knowledge of rickettsial species in Slovak ticks.
- Previous identification of Rickettsia slovaca, Candidatus rickettsia IRS, and Rickettsia raoultii.
- Ixodes ricinus is the most prevalent tick species in Slovakia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To report the first successful isolation of Rickettsia helvetica from Ixodes ricinus ticks in Slovakia.
- To confirm the presence and morphology of the isolated rickettsial species.
Main Methods:
- Isolation of Rickettsia helvetica using the shell-vial technique on XTC cells.
- Identification via Gimenez staining and light microscopy.
- Confirmation using PCR, gene sequencing, and database comparison for the citrate synthase gene.
Main Results:
- Successful isolation of Rickettsia helvetica from 10% of tested Ixodes ricinus ticks.
- Morphological identification of rod-shaped particles consistent with rickettsiae in infected cell cultures.
- PCR and sequencing confirmed the presence of R. helvetica DNA in positive ticks.
Conclusions:
- Rickettsia helvetica is confirmed as an existing tick-borne rickettsial species in Slovakia.
- This discovery increases the number of identified rickettsial species in Slovak ticks to four.
- The findings highlight the importance of Ixodes ricinus as a vector for Rickettsia helvetica in the region.
