FREE SHIPPING over $40
OVER 10000 FIVE-STAR REVIEWS
5% OFF ALL SUBSCRIPTIONS
100% HAPPINESS GUARANTEE
Analyze Diet
0
Journal of clinical microbiology2000; 38(3); 1293-1297; doi: 10.1128/JCM.38.3.1293-1297.2000

Helminthic transmission and isolation of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, by using trematode stages from freshwater stream snails.

Abstract: We report successful helminthic transmission of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, using trematode stages collected from Juga yrekaensis snails. The ehrlichial agent was isolated from the blood of experimentally infected horses by culture in murine monocytic cells and identified as E. risticii ultrastructurally and by characterization of three different genes.
Get Full Text
Publication Date: 2000-03-04 PubMed ID: 10699046PubMed Central: PMC88611DOI: 10.1128/JCM.38.3.1293-1297.2000Google Scholar: Lookup
The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
LinkedInCopy
  • Journal Article
  • Research Support
  • Non-U.S. Gov't

Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research explores how Ehrlichia risticii, responsible for Potomac horse fever, was successfully transmitted via helminthic transmission using trematode stages collected from a particular type of snail. The Ehrlichia risticii was identified in the horse’s blood through culture in murine monocytic cells and gene characterization.

Helminthic Transmission and Isolation of Ehrlichia risticii

  • The crux of this research paper involves the transmission and isolation of Ehrlichia risticii, the bacterium that causes Potomac horse fever, a disease primarily affecting horses.
  • Scientists were successful in transmitting E. risticii using helminthes, or parasitic worms discovered in certain stages of the Juga yrekaensis snail’s life cycle.

Experimental Infection and Isolation

  • The researchers infected horses with the E. risticii to further understand the transmission and impact of the bacteria.
  • Following infection, the bacterium was isolated from the horses’ blood samples for further examination and characterization.
  • The isolation was conducted through cultivation in murine monocytic cells, a type of mouse-derived white blood cell. This process enabled researchers to grow and reproduce E. risticii outside the body, providing a clear scientific environment to study the bacteria’s behaviors.

Identification as E. risticii

  • The bacteria isolated from the horses were identified as E. risticii not only by their ultrastructural attributes, or physical characteristics, but also via genetic characterization.
  • The researchers characterized three different genes to verify the isolated bacteria as E. risticii. This comprehensively validated that the bacteria responsible for the observed infection was indeed the intended agent – Ehrlichia risticii.

Cite This Article

APA
Pusterla N, Madigan JE, Chae JS, DeRock E, Johnson E, Pusterla JB. (2000). Helminthic transmission and isolation of Ehrlichia risticii, the causative agent of Potomac horse fever, by using trematode stages from freshwater stream snails. J Clin Microbiol, 38(3), 1293-1297. https://doi.org/10.1128/JCM.38.3.1293-1297.2000

Publication

Journal of clinical microbiology
ISSN: 0095-1137
NlmUniqueID: 7505564
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 38
Issue: 3
Pages: 1293-1297

Researcher Affiliations

Pusterla, N
  • Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA. npusterla@ucdavis.edu
Madigan, J E
    Chae, J S
      DeRock, E
        Johnson, E
          Pusterla, J B

            MeSH Terms

            • Animals
            • Ehrlichia / genetics
            • Ehrlichia / isolation & purification
            • Ehrlichia / ultrastructure
            • Ehrlichiosis / transmission
            • Ehrlichiosis / veterinary
            • Female
            • Fresh Water
            • Helminths / microbiology
            • Horse Diseases / transmission
            • Horses
            • Macrophages / microbiology
            • Macrophages / ultrastructure
            • Male
            • Mice
            • Molecular Sequence Data
            • Orchiectomy
            • Polymerase Chain Reaction / methods
            • Snails / parasitology
            • Vacuoles / microbiology

            References

            This article includes 20 references
            1. Barlough JE, Rikihisa Y, Madigan JE. Nested polymerase chain reaction for detection of Ehrlichia risticii genomic DNA in infected horses.. Vet Parasitol 1997 Mar;68(4):367-73.
              pubmed: 9106958doi: 10.1016/s0304-4017(96)01083-7google scholar: lookup
            2. Barlough JE, Reubel GH, Madigan JE, Vredevoe LK, Miller PE, Rikihisa Y. Detection of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever, in freshwater stream snails (Pleuroceridae: Juga spp.) from northern California.. Appl Environ Microbiol 1998 Aug;64(8):2888-93.
              pmc: PMC106788pubmed: 9687446doi: 10.1128/aem.64.8.2888-2893.1998google scholar: lookup
            3. Cordes DO, Perry BD, Rikihisa Y, Chickering WR. Enterocolitis caused by Ehrlichia sp. in the horse (Potomac horse fever).. Vet Pathol 1986 Jul;23(4):471-7.
              pubmed: 3750739doi: 10.1177/030098588602300418google scholar: lookup
            4. Hahn NE, Fletcher M, Rice RM, Kocan KM, Hansen JW, Hair JA, Barker RW, Perry BD. Attempted transmission of Ehrlichia risticii, causative agent of Potomac horse fever, by the ticks, Dermacentor variabilis, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum.. Exp Appl Acarol 1990 Jan;8(1-2):41-50.
              pubmed: 2307070doi: 10.1007/bf01193380google scholar: lookup
            5. Holland CJ, Ristic M, Cole AI, Johnson P, Baker G, Goetz T. Isolation, experimental transmission, and characterization of causative agent of Potomac horse fever.. Science 1985 Feb 1;227(4686):522-4.
              pubmed: 3880925doi: 10.1126/science.3880925google scholar: lookup
            6. Holland CJ, Weiss E, Burgdorfer W, Cole AI, Kakoma I. Ehrlichia risticii sp. nov.: etiological agent of equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (synonym, Potomac horse fever). Int J Syst Bacteriol 1985;35:524–526.
            7. Knowles RC, Anderson CW, Shipley WD, Whitlock RH, Perry BD, Davidson JP. Acute equine diarrhea syndrome (AEDS): a preliminary report. Proc Am Assoc Equine Pract 1983;29:353–357.
            8. Levine JF, Levy MG, Nicholson WL, Gager RB. Attempted Ehrlichia risticii transmission with Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae).. J Med Entomol 1990 Sep;27(5):931-3.
              pubmed: 2231630doi: 10.1093/jmedent/27.5.931google scholar: lookup
            9. Madigan JE, Rikihisa Y, Palmer JE, DeRock E, Mott J. Evidence for a high rate of false-positive results with the indirect fluorescent antibody test for Ehrlichia risticii antibody in horses.. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1995 Dec 1;207(11):1448-53.
              pubmed: 7493874
            10. Palmer JE. Potomac horse fever.. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract 1993 Aug;9(2):399-410.
              pubmed: 8358652doi: 10.1016/s0749-0739(17)30406-6google scholar: lookup
            11. Perry BD, Rikihisa Y, Saunders GK. Intradermal transmission of Potomac horse fever.. Vet Rec 1985 Mar 2;116(9):246-7.
              pubmed: 4002597doi: 10.1136/vr.116.9.246google scholar: lookup
            12. Pretzman C, Ralph D, Stothard DR, Fuerst PA, Rikihisa Y. 16S rRNA gene sequence of Neorickettsia helminthoeca and its phylogenetic alignment with members of the genus Ehrlichia.. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1995 Apr;45(2):207-11.
              pubmed: 7537055doi: 10.1099/00207713-45-2-207google scholar: lookup
            13. Reubel GH, Barlough JE, Madigan JE. Production and characterization of Ehrlichia risticii, the agent of Potomac horse fever, from snails (Pleuroceridae: Juga spp.) in aquarium culture and genetic comparison to equine strains.. J Clin Microbiol 1998 Jun;36(6):1501-11.
              pmc: PMC104868pubmed: 9620368doi: 10.1128/jcm.36.6.1501-1511.1998google scholar: lookup
            14. Rikihisa Y, Perry BD. Causative ehrlichial organisms in Potomac horse fever.. Infect Immun 1985 Sep;49(3):513-7.
              pmc: PMC261191pubmed: 4030092doi: 10.1128/iai.49.3.513-517.1985google scholar: lookup
            15. Rikihisa Y. Cross-reacting antigens between Neorickettsia helminthoeca and Ehrlichia species, shown by immunofluorescence and Western immunoblotting.. J Clin Microbiol 1991 Sep;29(9):2024-9.
              pmc: PMC270252pubmed: 1774330doi: 10.1128/jcm.29.9.2024-2029.1991google scholar: lookup
            16. Rikihisa Y. The tribe Ehrlichieae and ehrlichial diseases.. Clin Microbiol Rev 1991 Jul;4(3):286-308.
              pmc: PMC358200pubmed: 1889044doi: 10.1128/cmr.4.3.286google scholar: lookup
            17. Ristic M. Current strategies in research on ehrlichiosis. 1990. pp. 136–153.
            18. Rí¯¬k L, Dissing J. Rapid, simple alkaline extraction of human genomic DNA from whole blood, buccal epithelial cells, semen and forensic stains for PCR.. Biotechniques 1998 Oct;25(4):588-90, 592.
              pubmed: 9793639doi: 10.2144/98254bm09google scholar: lookup
            19. Schmidtmann ET, Robl MG, Carroll JF. Attempted transmission of Ehrlichia risticii by field-captured Dermacentor variabilis (Acari: Ixodidae).. Am J Vet Res 1986 Nov;47(11):2393-5.
              pubmed: 3789501
            20. van der Kolk JH, de Groot J. [Equine monocytic ehrlichiosis (EME), a review].. Tijdschr Diergeneeskd 1991 Jul 15;116(14):721-7.
              pubmed: 1862502

            Citations

            This article has been cited 12 times.
            1. Uzal FA, Arroyo LG, Navarro MA, Gomez DE, Asín J, Henderson E. Bacterial and viral enterocolitis in horses: a review. J Vet Diagn Invest 2022 May;34(3):354-375.
              doi: 10.1177/10406387211057469pubmed: 34763560google scholar: lookup
            2. Arroyo LG, Moore A, Bedford S, Gomez DE, Teymournejad O, Xiong Q, Budachetri K, Bekebrede H, Rikihisa Y, Baird JD. Potomac horse fever in Ontario: Clinical, geographic, and diagnostic aspects. Can Vet J 2021 Jun;62(6):622-628.
              pubmed: 34219771
            3. Xiong Q, Bekebrede H, Sharma P, Arroyo LG, Baird JD, Rikihisa Y. An Ecotype of Neorickettsia risticii Causing Potomac Horse Fever in Canada. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016 Oct 1;82(19):6030-6.
              doi: 10.1128/AEM.01366-16pubmed: 27474720google scholar: lookup
            4. Greiman SE, Rikihisa Y, Cain J, Vaughan JA, Tkach VV. Germs within Worms: Localization of Neorickettsia sp. within Life Cycle Stages of the Digenean Plagiorchis elegans. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016 Apr;82(8):2356-2362.
              doi: 10.1128/AEM.04098-15pubmed: 26873314google scholar: lookup
            5. Greiman SE, Tkach VV, Vaughan JA. Transmission rates of the bacterial endosymbiont, Neorickettsia risticii, during the asexual reproduction phase of its digenean host, Plagiorchis elegans, within naturally infected lymnaeid snails. Parasit Vectors 2013 Oct 22;6:303.
              doi: 10.1186/1756-3305-6-303pubmed: 24383453google scholar: lookup
            6. Baird JD, Arroyo LG. Historical aspects of Potomac horse fever in Ontario (1924-2010). Can Vet J 2013 Jun;54(6):565-72.
              pubmed: 24155447
            7. Gibson KE, Pastenkos G, Moesta S, Rikihisa Y. Neorickettsia risticii surface-exposed proteins: proteomics identification, recognition by naturally-infected horses, and strain variations. Vet Res 2011 Jun 2;42(1):71.
              doi: 10.1186/1297-9716-42-71pubmed: 21635728google scholar: lookup
            8. Lacharme-Lora L, Salisbury V, Humphrey TJ, Stafford K, Perkins SE. Bacteria isolated from parasitic nematodes--a potential novel vector of pathogens?. Environ Health 2009 Dec 21;8 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S17.
              doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-8-S1-S17pubmed: 20102584google scholar: lookup
            9. Heller MC, McClure J, Pusterla N, Pusterla JB, Stahel S. Two cases of Neorickettsia (Ehrlichia) risticii infection in horses from Nova Scotia. Can Vet J 2004 May;45(5):421-3.
              pubmed: 15206592
            10. Mott J, Muramatsu Y, Seaton E, Martin C, Reed S, Rikihisa Y. Molecular analysis of Neorickettsia risticii in adult aquatic insects in Pennsylvania, in horses infected by ingestion of insects, and isolated in cell culture. J Clin Microbiol 2002 Feb;40(2):690-3.
              doi: 10.1128/JCM.40.2.690-693.2002pubmed: 11825999google scholar: lookup
            11. Kanter M, Mott J, Ohashi N, Fried B, Reed S, Lin YC, Rikihisa Y. Analysis of 16S rRNA and 51-kilodalton antigen gene and transmission in mice of Ehrlichia risticii in virgulate trematodes from Elimia livescens snails in Ohio. J Clin Microbiol 2000 Sep;38(9):3349-58.
              doi: 10.1128/JCM.38.9.3349-3358.2000pubmed: 10970382google scholar: lookup
            12. Chiarelli TJ, Sanchez SE, Lind MCH, O'Bier NS, Read CB, Marconi RT, Carlyon JA. Distinct modes of cell division drive Anaplasma phagocytophilum morphotype development and the infection cycle. mBio 2025 Oct 8;16(10):e0197225.
              doi: 10.1128/mbio.01972-25pubmed: 40852994google scholar: lookup
            Subscribe to our newsletter
            Join 100,113 horse owners like you who receive our email updates on horse health and nutrition.