A RICKETTSIA-LIKE ORGANISM FROM IXODES-URIAE TICKS COLLECTED ON THE KERGUELEN ISLANDS (FRENCH SUB-ANTARCTIC TERRITORIES)

A rickettsia-like microorganism was isolated in suckling mice from Ixo des uriae ticks collected from penguins breeding on Mayes Island, Kerg uelen Archipelago, French Subantarctic Territories. At isolation, this agent mimicked a tick-borne arbovirus. Finally, electron microscopy s tudies of infected suckling mouse livers showed the presence of inclus ions filled with pleomorphic microorganism in the cytoplasm of some he patocytes, sometimes dividing by binary fission and thus of obviously non-viral nature. No firm serological relationship was demonstrated wi th Chlamydia psittaci, C. trachomatis, C pneumoniae, Coxiella burnetii , Cowdria ruminentium, Ehrlichia canis, E. phagocytophila, E. risticii or the WSU/1044 agent. The exact taxonomic position of the ''Mayes'' agent remains to be clarified.