Bartonella senegalensis sp. nov. strain OS02(T) is the type strain of B. senegalensis sp. nov., a new species within the genus Bartonella. This strain, whose genome is described here, was isolated in Senegal from the soft tick Ornithodoros sonrai, the vector of relapsing fever. B. senegalensis is an aerobic, rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium. Here we describe the features of this organism, to...

African swine fever is a highly contagious disease of pigs in Africa. Although its persistence in Senegal may be caused by asymptomatic carriers involved in the domestic transmission cycle, we demonstrated that the soft tick Ornithodoros sonrai can be naturally infected with the causative agent.

African swine fever (ASF) is an economically significant haemorrhagic disease of domestic pigs. It is caused by the African swine fever virus (ASFV), a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)arbovirus. Argasid ticks of the genus Ornithodoros, which are widely distributed throughout southern Africa, play a primary role in virus maintenance and spread within the endemic sylvatic cycle. The ASF status of Swaz...

Five persons contracted tick-borne relapsing fever after staying in a cabin in western Montana. Borrelia hermsii was isolated from the blood of two patients, and Ornithodoros hermsi ticks were collected from the cabin, the first demonstration of this bacterium and tick in Montana. Relapsing fever should be considered when patients who reside or have vacationed in western Montana exhibit a recur...

Ornithodoros turicata has been collected in Mexico and the United States. In the United States it is found in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Texas. It is reported a vector of relapsing fever in Mexico, and in Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas (Davis, 1942, Am. Assoc. Adv. Sci., 18, 67-76). In June, 1944, 121 Ornithodoros ticks...

Borrelia parkeri is a relapsing fever agent that rarely causes human infection, unlike other North American species. B. parkeri strain HR1 was isolated from Ornithodoros parkeri ticks. The sequences of its linear chromosome and large plasmid were determined by next-generation sequencing. These confirmed its closer relatedness to Borrelia turicatae than to Borrelia hermsii.

Evidence for the tickborne nature of Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever virus (AHFV) is indirect because AHFV has not been detected in arthropods. One Ornithodoros savignyi tick from Saudi Arabia contained AHFV RNA. This is the first direct evidence that AHFV is a tickborne flavivirus and confirms the association between human AHFV cases and tickbite history.