Rickettsia Species in African Anopheles Mosquitoes

Abstract

R. felis was detected for the first time in An. gambiae molecular form S, which represents the major African malaria vector. The discovery of R. felis, as well as a new Rickettsia species, in mosquitoes raises new issues with respect to African rickettsial epidemiology that need to be investigated, such as bacterial isolation, the degree of the vectorial capacity of mosquitoes, the animal reservoirs, and human pathogenicity.