Transmission ofRickettsia massiliaein the tick,Rhipicephalus turanicus

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Abstract
Abstract. Rickettsia massiliae, strain Bar29, was detected in engorged female ticks of theRhiphicephalus sanguineusgroup collected in Corsica, a French Mediterranean island. Ticks were identified by molecular analysis asRhipicephalus turanicus(Pomerantsev) (Acari: Ixodidae). Twenty larvae of the second generation obtained from aR. massiliae‐infected, engorged female were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and all were positive forR. massiliae. Larvae of the same cohort were fed on rabbits and specimens of subsequent stages of the second and third generation of ticks were tested by PCR. Both transovarial and transstadial transmission were demonstrated; the transovarial transmission rate was estimated at 100%. A high filial infection rate was demonstrated; 132 out of 134 larvae obtained from five infected females of the fourth generation were infected. When saliva samples from half‐engorgedRh. turanicusof the second generation were tested by PCR, four out of five were positive.Rickettsia massiliaewas detected in faeces of infected ticks by PCR and immunofluorescence assay, although no rickettsiae could be maintained in culture. Co‐feeding/transsexual transmission ofR. massiliaeBar29 was demonstrated by feeding maleRh. turanicuson a rabbit withRhipicephalus sanguineus(Latreille) (Acari: Ixodidae) females (the latter were the only uninfected ticks available). Infection was subsequently detected in nine out of the thirteen females (69.2%). These results suggest thatRh. turanicusticks are potential vectors and reservoirs forR. massiliaeBar29.