Rickettsia conorii in humans and dogs: A seroepidemiologic survey of two rural villages in Israel

Shimon Harms*, Yael Lior, Moshe Ephros, Galia Grisaru-Soen, Avi Keysary, Carmella Strenger, Frans Jongejan, Trevor Waner, Gad Baneth

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

The prevalence of IgG-antibodies reactive with an Israeli strain of Rickettsia conorii (Israeli strain 487), the agent of Israeli spotted fever, was examined in humans and dogs from two rural villages in Israel where the disease has been reported in humans. Sixty-nine of 85 (81%) canine sera and 14 of 136 (10%) of human sera had anti-R. conorii antibodies. No direct association could be made between seropositivity of people and ownership of a seropositive dog. This study indicates that exposure to spotted fever group rickettsiae was highly prevalent among dogs compared with humans in the two villages examined, probably reflecting a greater exposure rate of canines to the tick vector. These results support a previous suggestion that canine serology could be a sensitive indicator for the presence and magnitude of human exposure to R. conorii.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)133-135
Number of pages3
JournalAmerican Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Volume77
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2007

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