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1 October 2007 SURVEY FOR ZOONOTIC RICKETTSIAL PATHOGENS IN NORTHERN FLYING SQUIRRELS, GLAUCOMYS SABRINUS, IN CALIFORNIA
Janet E. Foley, Nathan C. Nieto, S. Bernadette Clueit, Patrick Foley, William N. Nicholson, Richard N. Brown
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Abstract

Epidemic typhus, caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, is maintained in a southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) sylvatic cycle in the southeastern United States. The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) has not been previously associated with R. prowazekii transmission. A second rickettsial pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, infects dusky-footed woodrats (Neotoma fuscipes) and tree squirrels in northern California. Because northern flying squirrels or their ectoparasites have not been tested for these rickettsial pathogens, serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to test 24 northern flying squirrels for R. prowazekii and A. phagocytophilum infection or antibodies. Although there was no evidence of exposure to R. prowazekii, we provide molecular evidence of A. phagocytophilum infection in one flying squirrel; two flying squirrels also were seropositive for this pathogen. Fleas and ticks removed from the squirrels included Ceratophyllus ciliatus mononis, Opisodasys vesperalis, Ixodes hearlei, Ixodes pacificus, and Dermacentor paramapertus.

Foley, Nieto, Clueit, Foley, Nicholson, and Brown: SURVEY FOR ZOONOTIC RICKETTSIAL PATHOGENS IN NORTHERN FLYING SQUIRRELS, GLAUCOMYS SABRINUS, IN CALIFORNIA
Janet E. Foley, Nathan C. Nieto, S. Bernadette Clueit, Patrick Foley, William N. Nicholson, and Richard N. Brown "SURVEY FOR ZOONOTIC RICKETTSIAL PATHOGENS IN NORTHERN FLYING SQUIRRELS, GLAUCOMYS SABRINUS, IN CALIFORNIA," Journal of Wildlife Diseases 43(4), 684-689, (1 October 2007). https://doi.org/10.7589/0090-3558-43.4.684
Received: 23 June 2006; Published: 1 October 2007
KEYWORDS
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
epidemic typhus
granulocytic anaplasmosis
Rickettsia prowazekii
rodents
sylvatic typhus
vectorborne disease
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