Rickettsiae are an important arthropod-borne pathogens widely distributed throughout the world that infects humans causing various types of clinical diseases. The clinical features of rickettsial diseases can often overlap with other tick-borne diseases, particularly with borrelioses. These organisms can share the same transmitting vector; co-infection in a single vector is possible, leading to further complication of the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. Preliminary study showed a relatively high infection rate for spotted fever group Rickettsiae among ticks in Georgia. The prevalence of Borrelia in ticks has not been studied so far.
Objective
The primary goal of this study was to assess the prevalence of Rickettsia and Borellia in ticks collected from different regions of Georgia.