Flea-borne pathogens in the cat flea Ctenocephalides felis and their association with mtDNA diversity of the flea host

Flea-borne pathogens were screened from 100 individual cat fleas using a PCR approach, of which 38 % infected with at least one bacterium. Overall, 28 the flea samples positive for Bartonella as inferred ITS DNA region. Of these, 25 (7/28) identified clarridgeiae, 42.9 (12/28) henselae consisted two different strains, and 32.1 (9/28) koehlerae, was detected first time in Malaysia. Sequencing gltA amplicons Rickettsia 14 samples, all them asembonensis (100 %). None Mycoplasma 16S rRNA gene detection. Four co-infected DNAs. Statistical analyses reveal no significant association between bacterial infection mtDNA diversity flea. Nevertheless, types pathogen infections, populations demonstrated lower nucleotide haplotype diversities compared to uninfected populations. Moreover, numbers observed