{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T00:55:44Z","timestamp":1760057744902,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]],"date-time":"2025-02-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739923200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"RumiRes: Epidemiological Surveillance and Awareness of Antimicrobial Resistance and Drug Residues in Small Ruminants in the Central Region","award":["PRR-C05-i03-I-000190"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PRR-C05-i03-I-000190"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Pathogens"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Vector-borne diseases, particularly those caused by Rickettsia species, pose a significant public health threat in Europe. Despite extensive research on tick-borne pathogens in various European countries, Luxembourg has yet not been studied for Rickettsia spp. in ticks infesting domestic animals. This study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the presence of Rickettsia spp. in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from domestic dogs in Luxembourg between April 2023 and April 2024. A total of 61 ticks were examined using molecular techniques, including PCR amplification of the outer membrane protein B (ompB), outer membrane protein A (ompA), and citrate synthase (gltA) genes. Results revealed the presence of R. helvetica and R. conorii subsp. raoultii, with 4.9% of ticks testing positive for Rickettsia spp. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the high genetic identity of the sequences obtained with previously described strains from Europe and Asia. This study highlights the potential risk of emerging tick-borne diseases in Luxembourg and emphasizes the need for ongoing surveillance to better understand the spread of Rickettsia spp. in Europe, particularly as climate change may facilitate the expansion of tick populations and their associated pathogens.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/pathogens14020204","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]],"date-time":"2025-02-19T05:34:26Z","timestamp":1739943266000},"page":"204","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["First Molecular Detection of Rickettsia conorii and Rickettsia helvetica in Ticks from Dogs in Luxembourg"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-2828-7202","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Guilherme","family":"Moreira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ICBAS\u2014School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Porto University, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-8852-0608","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafaela S. S.","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICBAS\u2014School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Porto University, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Floriane Andr\u00e9 das","family":"Neves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICBAS\u2014School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Porto University, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Vanessa","family":"Swiontek","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICBAS\u2014School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Porto University, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6954-1919","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Patr\u00edcia F.","family":"Barradas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EPIUnit\u2014Instituto de Sa\u00fade P\u00fablica, Universidade do Porto, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio para a Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Integrativa e Translacional em Sa\u00fade Populacional (ITR), 4050-600 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Sciences, CESPU, CRL, University Institute of Health Sciences (IUCS), 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal"},{"name":"1H-TOXRUN, One Health Toxicology Research Unit, University Institute of Health Sciences, CESPU, CRL, 4585-116 Gandra, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8374-3739","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sara","family":"Gomes-Gon\u00e7alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICBAS\u2014School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Porto University, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8769-8103","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jo\u00e3o R.","family":"Mesquita","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"ICBAS\u2014School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Porto University, 4050-313 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Centro de Estudos de Ci\u00eancia Animal (CECA), Instituto de Ci\u00eancias, Tecnologias e Agroambiente (ICETA), Universidade do Porto (UP), Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, 4051-401 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Associate Laboratory for Animal and Veterinary Science (AL4AnimalS), 1300-477 Lisboa, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2024, November 28). Vector-Borne Diseases. Available online: https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/vector-borne-diseases."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"CDC (2024, November 28). Vector-Borne Diseases, Available online: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/climate-health\/php\/effects\/vectors.html."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1016\/j.idc.2018.10.010","article-title":"The Rickettsioses: A Practical Update","volume":"33","author":"Blanton","year":"2019","journal-title":"Infect. Dis. Clin. N. 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