"Rickettsia hoogstraalii and a Rickettsiella from the bat tick Argas transgariepinus, in Namibia" was published today in the Journal of Parasitology, which I coauthored with Will Reeves, Ben Mans, Lance Durden, Myrna Miller, and Elena Gratton. Our detection of R. hoogstraalii in Namibia is a new national record for this spotted fever group rickettsia and a potential new vertebrate host (the long-tailed serotine bat, Eptesicus hottentotus). Feel free to email me if you need assistance accessing the paper. Abstract: Ectoparasites were collected from Eptesicus hottentotus, the long-tailed serotine bat, caught in Namibia as part of an ecological study. Larvae of Argas transgariepinus, a blood-feeding ectoparasite of bats in Africa, were removed from 3 of 18 bats. We present scanning electron microscope images of unengorged larvae. As with other ectoparasites, this bat tick might transmit pathogens such as Borrelia and Rickettsia to their hosts as has been reported for bat ticks in Europe and North America. We screened 3 pools (25 total) of larvae of A. transgariepinus removed from the long-tailed serotine bat Eptesicus hottentotus caught in Namibia. Two microbes of unknown pathogenicity, including Rickettsia hoogstraalii, a spotted fever group pathogen, and a Rickettsiella sp. were detected by molecular techniques.
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