Adult ticks of the species
Amblyomma parvum
were collected from the vegetation in the Pantanal biome (state of Mato Grosso do Sul) and from horses in the
Cerrado biome (state of Piauí) in Brazil. The ticks were individually tested for rickettsial infection via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting three rickettsial genes,
gltA,
ompA and
ompB. Overall, 63.5% (40/63) and 66.7% (2/3) of A. parvum ticks from Pantanal and Cerrado, respectively, contained rickettsial DNA, which were all confirmed by DNA sequencing to be 100% identical to the corresponding fragments of the
gltA,
ompA and
ompB genes of
Candidatus
Rickettsia andeanae. This report is the first to describe Ca. R. andeanae in Brazil.
