Short report: Isolation and identification of two spotted fever group rickettsial strains from patients in Catalonia, Spain

Two rickettsial strains, 16B (previously isolated) and FBI, were isolated f rom blood from patients with Mediterranean spotted fever in Catalonia, Spai n. These are the only 2 human rickettsial isolates of the spotted fever gro up obtained so far in Spain. These strains were identified by the polymeras e chain reaction and sequence analysis of a fragment of the outer membrane protein A (ompA) gene. The partial ompA sequence wits found to be 100% iden tical with that of Rickettsia conorii (Malish 7 strain) for both strains. T hese results confirm the presence of: R. conorii in Catalonia, despite the fact that in a previous study, no R. conorii were isolated, but a new ricke ttsial strain of the spotted fever group (Bar29) was isolated from dog tick s (Rhipicephalus sanguineus) in Catalonia. Further studies are necessary to get a better knowledge of the epidemiology of rickettsiae in Catalonia.