Dangerous tick-borne bacterium extremely rare in New Jersey
The mystery behind the rise in spotted fever cases continues

Date:
June 25, 2020
Source:
Rutgers University
Summary:
There's some good news in New Jersey about a potentially deadly
tick- borne bacterium. Researchers examined more than 3,000 ticks in
the Garden State and found only one carrying Rickettsia rickettsii,
the bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever. But cases
of tick-borne spotted fevers have increased east of the Mississippi
River, and more research is needed to understand why.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== There's some good news in New Jersey about a potentially deadly tick-borne bacterium. Rutgers researchers examined more than 3,000 ticks in the
Garden State and found only one carrying Rickettsia rickettsii, the
bacterium that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever.


==========================================================================
But cases of tick-borne spotted fevers have increased east of the
Mississippi River, and more research is needed to understand why,
according to a study in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and
Hygiene.

Rocky Mountain spotted fever from infection with Rickettsia rickettsii
can involve blood vessel damage, gangrene and organ failure. It was
rare in the United States and limited to the Mountain states until the beginning of this century. Since then, the mid-Atlantic states have seen
a steep increase in spotted fever cases that are associated with a lower
risk of severe illness and death -- a puzzling and unexplained phenomenon.

In the past decade, New Jersey has reported between 42 and 144 cases
of spotted fever a year, but it is unclear which, if any, involved the dangerous Rickettsia rickettsii since current blood tests for spotted
fever do not distinguish between different kinds of Rickettsia bacteria.

"CDC researchers recently found that the invasive Asian longhorned tick,
like the American dog tick and lone star tick, is an efficient vector of Rickettsia rickettsii in the lab," said senior author Dina M. Fonseca, a professor and director of the Center for Vector Biology in the Department
of Entomology in the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences
at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "The Asian longhorned tick, which
was first detected in the U.S. by Rutgers Center for Vector Biology researchers, is now very abundant in some New Jersey counties. And while
this tick species has not been found infected with any human pathogens
in the U.S. so far, this raised concerns. Our finding of the rarity of Rickettsia rickettsii in New Jersey is good news, but we can't let our
guard down." Rutgers researchers looked for the pathogen in two separate studies. The latest one, published this week, included 805 ticks collected statewide during a 2018 Tick Blitz and 394 ticks collected from 2013 to
2018. It found no evidence of the pathogen. The other study, published
this year, involved 1,858 ticks collected in Monmouth County in 2018
and found Rickettsia rickettsii in one.

"We do not rule out that cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever may
occur in New Jersey since the deadly bacteria have been detected in New
Jersey ticks.

However, our results indicate that most cases of spotted fevers in New
Jersey are likely caused by other Rickettsia bacteria," said Jim Occi,
a Rutgers doctoral student who was the lead author of the statewide study.

The Monmouth County study was led by Andrea M. Egizi, a visiting professor
in the Department of Entomology at Rutgers who earned a doctorate at
Rutgers, and is a research scientist with the Monmouth County Tick-borne Diseases Laboratory hosted by the Rutgers Center for Vector Biology.

Rutgers Center for Vector Biology researchers reviewed studies from
neighboring states and, in New Jersey, developed statewide surveillance
of Rickettsia pathogens in the American dog tick and the lone star tick,
the two tick species thought to be the primary vectors. The surveillance confirmed the increased distribution and abundance of lone star ticks
across the Garden State.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Rutgers_University. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. James Occi, Andrea M. Egizi, Ashley Goncalves, Dina M. Fonseca. New
Jersey-Wide Survey of Rickettsia (Proteobacteria: Rickettsiaceae)
in Dermacentor variabilis and Amblyomma americanum (Acari: Ixodida:
Ixodidae). The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene,
2020; DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0145 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200625124939.htm

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