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PREVALENCE OF ANTIBODIES TO SPOTTED FEVER GROUP RICKETTSIAE IN HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS IN A BRAZILIAN SPOTTED FEVER-ENDEMIC AREA IN THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL: SEROLOGIC EVIDENCE FOR INFECTION BY RICKETTSIA RICKETTSII AND ANOTHER SPOTTED FEVER GROUP RICKETTSIA

In serum samples obtained from all the healthy humans, horses, dogs, and donkeys present on three farms in the Pedreira Municipality, an endemic area for Brazilian spotted fever, an indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFA) detected antibodies against Rickettsia rickettsii in 17 (77.3%) horses, 5 (31.3%) dogs (titers ranging from 64 to 4,048), and none of 4 donkeys or 50 humans. Five canine and eight equine sera with high antibody titers to R. rickettsii were also tested by IFA against R. bellii, R. akari, and R. africae antigens. Sera from two horses and two dogs that showed similar high antibody titers against two rickettsial antigens were evaluated after cross-absorption. Sera from seven horses and two dogs contained antibodies specific for R. rickettsii, and one dog serum had antibodies against a Rickettsia species very closely related to R. africae. The latter may have been caused by infection with the recently identified COOPERI strain.

Received December 11, 2003. Accepted for publication February 9, 2004.

Acknowledgments: We thank Chao Hong and Donald Bouyer for technical support in the purification of Rickettsia antigen and Jere McBride for technical support in performing the cross-absorption test.

Financial support: This work was supported by the Fogarty International Center (grant D43TW00903 to David H. Walker and Marcelo B. Labruna), and Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (grant 02/00644-0 to Marcelo B. Labruna and grant 00/02711-1 to Solange M. Gennari).

Authors’ addresses: Maurício C. Horta, Luis A. Sangioni, Manoella C. B. Vianna, and Solange M. Gennari, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Marcelo B. Labruna, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil and Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 77555-0609. Márcio A. M. Galvão, Department of Clinical and Social Nutrition, Federal University of Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Claudio L. Mafra, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Odilon Vidotto, Department of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, State University of Londrina, Londrina, Parana, Brazil. Teresinha T. S. Schumaker, Department of Parasitology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. David H. Walker, Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, 77555-0609, E-mail: dwalker{at}utmb.edu.

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