Detection of Rickettsia sibirica in ticks and small mammals collected in three different regions of China.

: The primers Rr 190.70p and Rr 190.602n were used to detect spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in ticks and small mammals collected in three different regions of China. The obtained results indicated that specific DNA fragments of SFG rickettsiae were amplified from Dermacentor silvarum, D. sinicus, D. auratus, Haemaphysalis concinna, H. wellingtoni, H. yeni, Apodemus agrarius, Microtus fortis. Clethrionomys rufocanus, Ondatra zibethica, Rattus flavipectus and hedgehog. The PCR product were digested with restriction endonucleases PstI and RsaI and the obtained electrophoretic profiles were compared with those of the prototype strains of SFG rickettsiae by the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique. The comparisons showed that the profiles were identical to those of Rickettsia sibirica. In addition, three new isolates of R. sibirica were obtained from H. yeni, D. sinicus and hedgehog, and designated NH-95, BJ-95 and BHJ-95, respectively. These results not only demonstrated a horizontal transmission of the rickettsiae between ticks and hosts but also suggested that R. sibirica is widely distributed in China and its hosts and vectors are various, all that indicating the existence of natural foci of North Asia tick-borne spotted fever specific to China.