SUSCEPTIBILITY OF TICKS OF THE SUPERFAMILY IXODOIDEA TO RICKETTSIA PROWAZEKI

Susceptibility of ticks to Rickettsia prowazekii was tested experimentally. For infection of ticks they were either placed on infected guinea pigs or injected with rickettsia. Ticks H. anatolicum, D. pictus, A canestrinii picked up rickettsia during feeding on a sick guinea pig. Species differences in susceptibility of ticks to Rickettsia prowazekii were revealed. In ticks infected during blood-sucking the rickettsia remained for 15 days. Experiments using parenteral injections showed that the tick body presents a favourable environment for the development of rickettsia. The latter multiply in amoebocytes of the hemolymph of ticks. The presence of rickettsia in parenterally infected ticks was detected up to the 116th day. Tick did not transmit rickettsia to their progeny transovarially. Infected ticks did not transmit rickettsia to guinea pigs when feeding on them. Guinea pigs could be infected by grounding ticks of their scarified skin. (Author) Trans. of Meditsinskaya Parazitologiya i Parazitarnye Bolezni (USSR) v35 n3 p299-304 1966.