Bacterial agents in 248 ticks removed from people from 2002 to 2013

A retrospective study was conducted to analyze the tick species removed from people and to detect tick-infecting bacteria in the specimens collected over the past 10 years at the reference center for rickettsioses, Marseille, France. A total of 248 ticks were removed from 200 people, including Dermacentor (73), Rhipicephalus (67), Ixodes (60), Amblyomma (8), Argas (3), Hyalomma (1), and Haemaphysalis (1) species. Bacterial DNA was detected in 101 ticks: Rickettsia slovaca (34%) and Rickettsia raoultii (23%) were detected in Dermacentor ticks; Rickettsia conorii (16%) and Rickettsia massiliae (18%) were found in Rhipicephalus ticks; and Anaplasma phagocytophylum (5%), Borrelia spp. (8%) and Rickettsia spp. (2%) were detected in Ixodes ticks. Among the bitten people for which clinical data and laboratory samples were available, tick borne diseases were confirmed in 11 symptomatic individuals.