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While triatomine bugs are established vectors for\n                      <jats:italic>Trypanosoma cruzi<\/jats:italic>\n                      , their potential role in the ecology of\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. remains unexplored. This study investigated the presence and genetic characteristics of\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      spp. in\n                      <jats:italic>Triatoma rubrofasciata<\/jats:italic>\n                      and sympatric hosts in southern China.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A total of 362\u00a0\n                      <jats:italic>T. rubrofasciata<\/jats:italic>\n                      specimens including the fecal samples, head tissues and gut were screened for\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      DNA using nested PCR targeting six genes (\n                      <jats:italic>groEL<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>rrs<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>gltA<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>17-kDa<\/jats:italic>\n                      ,\n                      <jats:italic>ompA<\/jats:italic>\n                      , and\n                      <jats:italic>ompB<\/jats:italic>\n                      ). In addition, 64 fleas, 136 ticks, and 69 wild rodents were tested. Positive amplicons were sequenced and subjected to phylogenetic analysis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      DNA was detected in eight (2.2%, 8\/362)\n                      <jats:italic>T. rubrofasciata<\/jats:italic>\n                      specimens, with\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      specifically identified in four of these positive samples; the species of the remaining four could not be determined. The bacterium was detected across multiple anatomical sites, including the head (which contains the salivary glands), the gut, and fecal samples. Surveillance of sympatric hosts revealed a markedly higher prevalence in fleas (57.8%) and wild rats (4.3%), whereas ticks harbored a distinct agent related to\n                      <jats:italic>Candidatus<\/jats:italic>\n                      Rickettsia jingxinensis (29.4%). Genomic analyses indicated high conservation of key loci among\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      strains across hosts, with a stable\n                      <jats:italic>ompA<\/jats:italic>\n                      gene variation distinguishing vector- and rodent-derived lineages. Phylogenetically, all\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      sequences formed a distinct clade separate from tick-associated rickettsiae.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      This study confirms for the first time the presence of\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      in\n                      <jats:italic>T. rubrofasciata<\/jats:italic>\n                      , including\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      sp. The\n                      <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic>\n                      was found co-circulating in fleas and rodents, while ticks harbored a distinct\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      , indicating separate transmission cycles in sympatric hosts. Genetic divergence in\n                      <jats:italic>ompA<\/jats:italic>\n                      further suggests host-adaptive evolution between vector- and rodent-associated strains. These findings suggest that\n                      <jats:italic>T. rubrofasciata<\/jats:italic>\n                      may serve as a previously unrecognized interface in the epidemiology of flea-borne spotted fever in southern China. They also highlight the expanded vector range of\n                      <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic>\n                      and underscoring the ecological complexity of its transmission, calling for broader surveillance of nontraditional vectors in endemic regions.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13071-026-07489-9","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,13]],"date-time":"2026-06-13T15:34:37Z","timestamp":1781364877000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["First molecular evidence of Rickettsia spp. in Triatoma rubrofasciata: implications for vector ecology and zoonotic transmission"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Binglian","family":"Qin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenting","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lili","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Peichao","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoquan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ling","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qingan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanlin","family":"Hou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huitong","family":"Pan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiaming","family":"Liang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaoyin","family":"Fu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shanshan","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yanwen","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dengyu","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunliang","family":"Shi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"7489_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"657","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00032-13","volume":"26","author":"P Parola","year":"2013","unstructured":"Parola P, Paddock CD, Socolovschi C, Labruna MB, Mediannikov O, Kernif T, et al. 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