Rickettsia spp. has been detected in dog fleas in Bangkok, Thailand. With the intent of collecting evidence to confirm the presence of rickettsioses in dogs and to assess the level of associated potential for accidental human infection, human buffy coat from patients with fever of unknown origin (n = 168), whole blood samples from dogs (n = 353), and 19 flea groups from our dog sample population were studied during the 2012 to 2014 study period. The presence of Rickettsia was investigated by molecular detection of 23S rRNA gene of Rickettsia genus, citrate synthase (gltA) gene, and 17-kDa outer membrane gene. All positive samples were confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. Using phylogenetic analysis, three groups of Rickettsia were detected, as follows: Rickettsia felis in 8 patients and 8 dogs; R. felis-like sp. in 2 patients, 5 dogs, and 11 flea samples; and Rickettsia typhi in 3 patients. In addition to confirming the presence of R. felis in Thai patients, the findings of this study suggest that R. felis-like sp. isolated from fleas that were symbiotically coexisting with dogs that we evaluated in this study can transmit and cause disease in dogs and humans in Bangkok.
Keywords: Bangkok; PCR; Rickettsia; blood; dog; human.