{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,27]],"date-time":"2026-09-27T06:11:01Z","timestamp":1790489461454,"version":"4.1.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010576","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,8]],"date-time":"2022-07-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1657238400000}}],"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,27]],"date-time":"2022-06-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1656288000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100015691","name":"Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AI122672"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AI122672"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100015691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100015691","name":"Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["AI077784"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["AI077784"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100015691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p><jats:italic>Rickettsia felis<\/jats:italic> is an emerging etiological agent of rickettsioses worldwide. The cosmopolitan cat flea (<jats:italic>Ctenocephalides felis<\/jats:italic>) is the primary vector of <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic>, but <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic> has also been reported in other species of hematophagous arthropods including ticks and mosquitoes. Canines can serve as a bacteremic host to infect fleas under laboratory conditions, yet isolation of <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic> from the blood of a vertebrate host in nature has not been realized. Cofeeding transmission is an efficient mechanism for transmitting rickettsiae between infected and uninfected fleas; however, the mechanism of transmission among different orders and classes of arthropods is not known. The potential for <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic> transmission between infected fleas and tick (<jats:italic>Dermacentor variabilis<\/jats:italic>) and mosquito (<jats:italic>Anopheles quadrimaculatus)<\/jats:italic> hosts was examined via cofeeding bioassays. Donor cat fleas infected with <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic> transmitted the agent to na\u00efve <jats:italic>D<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>variabilis<\/jats:italic> nymphs via cofeeding on a rat host. Subsequent transstadial transmission of <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic> from the engorged nymphs to the adult ticks was observed with reduced prevalence in adult ticks. Using an artificial host system, <jats:italic>An<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>quadrimaculatus<\/jats:italic> exposed to a <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic>-infected blood meal acquired rickettsiae and maintained infection over 12 days post-exposure (dpe). Similar to ticks, mosquitoes were able to acquire <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic> while cofeeding with infected cat fleas on rats infection persisting in the mosquito for up to 3 dpe. The results indicate <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic>-infected cat fleas can transmit rickettsiae to both ticks and mosquitoes via cofeeding on a vertebrate host, thus providing a potential avenue for the diversity of <jats:italic>R<\/jats:italic>. <jats:italic>felis<\/jats:italic>-infected arthropods in nature.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010576","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,6,27]],"date-time":"2022-06-27T17:35:57Z","timestamp":1656351357000},"page":"e0010576","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["The role of cofeeding arthropods in the transmission of Rickettsia 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