Detection of Candidatus Rickettsia wissemanii in ticks parasitizing bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in the northern Brazilian Amazon

A total of 482 bats representing 32 species and two families were captured in the Amazon forests of the Amapa state in northern Brazil. Nineteen Artibeus planirostris bats (3.9 %) were infested with 160 ticks, all identified as Ornithodoros hasei. Three pools of larvae were screened for rickettsial DNA via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting three rickettsial genes: gltA, ompA and htrA. Only one of them yielded an amplicons of the expected size for all three molecular assays. Comparisons of the obtained sequences including a phylogenetic analysis confirmed the occurrence of Candidatus Rickettsia wissemanii in Brazil.