Rickettsiae belonging to the spotted fever group from ticks in the Tribec Mountains

Rickettsiae of the spotted (SF) group were found in a selected locality of the Tribec Mountains in southern Slovakia in 1974. The rickettsiae were found in 10.8% of females and 6.1% of males of Haemaphysalis inermis and 7.3% of females and 4.8% of males of Ixodes ricinus. No significant differences in the incidence were observed during the year. Coxiella burneti was found in 1 male and 4 females of H. inermis and 1 male of I. ricinus in ad adjacent locality. Antibodies against rickettsiae of the SF group were detected in 22.5% and against C. burneti in 1.9% of small mammals in other adjacent localities. Trypanosomes and Nosema slovaca were recovered from I. ricinus ticks; both records are the first for Europe.