A story of a lone star tick: an imported case of Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus, 1758) infected with Rickettsia amblyommatis that parasitized a US traveler returning to Mexico

Authors

  • Patricia Volkow Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Departamento de Infectología, Ciudad de México, México
  • Estefania Grostieta Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad de Medicina, Centro de Medicina Tropical, Ciudad de México, México
  • Beatriz Salceda-Sánchez Secretaría de Salud, Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Laboratorio de Entomología, Ciudad de México, México
  • Herón Huerta-Jiménez Secretaría de Salud, Instituto de Diagnóstico y Referencia Epidemiológicos, Laboratorio de Entomología, Ciudad de México, México
  • Virginia Alcántara-Rodríguez Secretaría de Salud, Unidad Departamental de Vigilancia Epidemiológica, Ciudad de México, México
  • Ingeborg Becker Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad de Medicina, Centro de Medicina Tropical, Ciudad de México, México
  • Sokani Sánchez-Montes Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Facultad de Medicina, Centro de Medicina Tropical, Ciudad de México, México; Universidad Veracruzana, región Poza Rica-Tuxpan, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Laboratorio de Diagnóstico, Tuxpan de Rodríguez Cano, Veracruz, México http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6316-2187

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-9946202365037

Keywords:

Lone star tick, Exotic tick, Rickettsia amblyommatis

Abstract

In this study, we report the presence of a female Amblyomma americanum tick attached to a former resident of the East Coast of the United States who moved to Mexico city. The amplification and sequencing of gene fragments of the 16S-rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 corroborated the identification of the species of the tick. Additionally, the presence of DNA of Rickettsia amblyommatis was confirmed. This work is the first report of an exotic tick of the genus Amblyomma in a traveler from the US to Mexico and represents the second record of an imported tick attached to humans in Mexico.

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Published

2023-06-05

Issue

Vol. 65 (2023)

Section

Case Report

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Patricia Volkow, Estefania Grostieta, Beatriz Salceda-Sánchez, Herón Huerta-Jiménez, Virginia Alcántara-Rodríguez, Ingeborg Becker, Sokani Sánchez-Montes

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Funding data

How to Cite

Volkow, P. ., Grostieta, E. ., Salceda-Sánchez, B. ., Huerta-Jiménez, H. ., Alcántara-Rodríguez, V. ., Becker, I. ., & Sánchez-Montes, S. . (2023). A story of a lone star tick: an imported case of Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus, 1758) infected with Rickettsia amblyommatis that parasitized a US traveler returning to Mexico. Revista Do Instituto De Medicina Tropical De São Paulo, 65, e37. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1678-9946202365037