{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T07:40:55Z","timestamp":1792654855343,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,17]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT.<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Flea-borne spotted fever is an emerging insect-borne rickettsial infection caused by <jats:italic>Rickettsia felis<\/jats:italic> and has been identified worldwide. This study sought to explore the prevalence of rickettsiae associated with fleas on companion dogs and cats from Walker and Montgomery Counties in East Texas. Fleas were collected from animals entering local veterinary clinics for routine checkups. Collected fleas were identified as <jats:italic>Ctenocephalides felis<\/jats:italic> or <jats:italic>Pulex irritans<\/jats:italic> and analyzed by polymerase chain reaction for the presence of rickettsiae and subsequent sequencing. An estimation of the bcMLE (bias-corrected maximum likelihood estimation) of pooled samples was calculated. Four hundred eighty-eight fleas (comprising <jats:italic>C. felis<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>P. irritans<\/jats:italic>) were collected from 16 cats and 77 dogs. Our results demonstrate <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic> in 21 pools of fleas from dogs (bcMLE 15.28%) and a bcMLE of 7.25% from flea samples collected from cats. Sequence analysis revealed <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic> as the only <jats:italic>Rickettsia<\/jats:italic> that could be amplified in our samples using the rickettsial citrate synthase gene and subsequent sequencing. In this study, the presence of <jats:italic>R. felis<\/jats:italic> in fleas from companion cats and dogs suggests a potential risk of flea-borne spotted fever in humans who encounter flea-infested animals.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4269\/ajtmh.21-0783","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,5]],"date-time":"2022-07-05T13:13:22Z","timestamp":1657026802000},"page":"416-419","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Molecular Detection of Rickettsia felis in Fleas of Companion Animals in East Texas"],"prefix":"10.4269","volume":"107","author":[{"given":"Lixin","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering Technology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ammie","family":"Rupani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Osteopathic Medicine, Sam Houston State University, Conroe, Texas"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luis A.","family":"Grado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering Technology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luis M.","family":"Lopez Salazara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering Technology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"LaReyna A.","family":"Trinidad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Engineering Technology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, Texas;"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jerry L.","family":"Cook","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological 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