Detection of “Candidatus Rickettsia wissemanii” in ticks parasitizing bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in the northern Brazilian Amazon

A total of 482 bats representing 32 species and two families were captured in the Amazon forests of the Amapá state in northern Brazil. Nineteen Artibeus planirostris bats (3.9 %) were infested with 160 ticks, all identified as Ornithodoros hasei . Three pools of larvae were screened for rickettsial DNA via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting three rickettsial genes: gltA , ompA and htrA . Only one of them yielded an amplicons of the expected size for all three molecular assays. Comparisons of the obtained sequences including a phylogenetic analysis confirmed the occurrence of “ Candidatus Rickettsia wissemanii ” in Brazil .