SILVER SPRING, Md. – Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) scientists, in collaboration with Shippensburg University’s Department of Biology, in Shippensburg Pennsylvania, presented their results about flea and ticks collected from domestic and wild animals as a possible cause for widespread rickettsia diseases throughout the state of Pennsylvania during American Society for Rickettsiology’s annual meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico June 8-11.
During their presentation, “Flea-borne Rickettsia in Pennsylvania,” they explained how rickettsial diseases have a long history of plaguing military and civilian populations because of the worldwide spread of fleas and ticks.
According to Center for Disease Control and Prevention, rickettsial diseases are infections caused by the bite from fleas, lice, mites, and ticks, which can cause spotted fever or typhus-group diseases that can cause a rashe or spotted fever that develop into scabs. When an infection is advanced, gangrene might develop, the liver or spleen may enlarge, kidneys can malfunction, and blood pressure can fall dangerously low, to cause shock.
Recent studies validate a link between wild cats, and their role spreading rickettsial diseases from animals to humans. Flea bites on humans are related, and usually occur when a flea-infested pet lives in someone’s home or living space. Because Pennsylvania is known for its abundance of outdoor recreation, hunting activities, and outdoor occupations, the state is an excellent refuge for a large population of cats, opossums, and wild carnivorous animals.
“Studies concerning rickettsial diseases prevalence, distribution, and connected paths are imperative to provide public health data necessary to protect our warfighters and active duty personnel,” said Christina Farris, Ph.D, investigator, NMRC Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department. “Moreover, new rickettsial species are continuously being identified and described, therefore demonstrating their worldly nature and ever-changing habitat and geographical range.”
To determine the extensive flea and tick populations and common flea-borne rickettsia, Farris and her team exposed their flea and tick test subjects to molecular testing to check for the presence of Rickettsia felis; a contributing agent of flea-borne spotted fever, Rickettsia typhi; a contributing agent of endemic typhus, and Rickettsia asembonensis; agent recently found to cause disease in humans.
Farris and Dr. Alison Fedrow, her colleague at Shippensburg University, conclude R. felis, R. asembonensis, and undetermined rickettsial species molecularly detected in fleas and ticks collected from undomesticated cats, opossums, red fox, gray fox, and coyotes can be found throughout Pennsylvania.
“These agents have the potential to cause severe fever in our warfighters and deployed personnel,” said Farris. “Our collaborative research with Shippensburg University is ongoing, and I firmly believe our studies should continue and be expanded into the mid-Atlantic region, where more than 140,000 active duty military members and their families live.”
About Naval Medical Research Center
NMRC's eight laboratories are engaged in a broad spectrum of activity from basic science in the laboratory to field studies at sites in austere and remote areas of the world to operational environments. In support of the Navy, Marine Corps, and joint U.S. warfighters, researchers study infectious diseases, biological warfare detection and defense, combat casualty care, environmental health concerns, aerospace and undersea medicine, medical modeling, simulation and operational mission support, and epidemiology and behavioral sciences.
| Date Taken: | 07.03.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 07.03.2019 10:23 |
| Story ID: | 330221 |
| Location: | SILVER SPRING, MD, US |
| Web Views: | 74 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NMRC Believe Animals are Cause to Widespread Rickettsial Diseases in Pennsylvania, by Steve Vanderwerff, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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