CONFIRMATION THAT RICKETTSIA-HELVETICA SP-NOV - IS A DISTINCT SPECIESOF THE SPOTTED-FEVER GROUP OF RICKETTSIAE

We propose the name Rickettsia helvetica sp. nov. for a rickettsial se rotype of unknown pathogenicity isolated in 1979 in Switzerland from I xodes ricinus ticks and designated the Swiss agent. The growth charact eristics and the results of microimmunofluorescence serologic typing, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blo tting (immunoblotting) with specific mice sera, and a polymerase chain reaction followed by restriction fragment length polymorphism analysi s confirmed previously reported preliminary findings which suggested t hat this rickettsia, to which a name was given provisionally, does rep resent a new member of the spotted fever group of rickettsiae. The typ e strain is C3 (Reference Center for Rickettsioses, Marseille, France) .