First record of bartonella vinsonii in the sucking louse hoplopleura hirsuta<sup>1</sup> collected from hispid cotton rats, sigmodon hispidus, in Mexico
Sánchez-Montes S; Guzmán-Cornejo C; Herrera-Montalvo G; Richman AD; Flores-Martínez JJ; García-Ruiz GF; Berzunza-Cruz M; Gaytán-Colín P; Pérez-Montfort R; Alcántara-Rodríguez VE; Becker I (2016). First record of bartonella vinsonii in the sucking louse hoplopleura hirsuta<sup>1</sup> collected from hispid cotton rats, sigmodon hispidus, in Mexico SOUTHWEST ENTOMOL 41 (4) :1031-1036
This study determined the presence of Bartonella species in sucking lice from hispid cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus Say and Ord, at San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Louse specimens were processed for morphological identification and evaluated for Bartonella DNA. A single sucking louse species was found and identified as Hoplopleura hirsuta Ferris. DNA was extracted from 20 adults, and a 379-bp fragment of Bartonella citrate synthase (gltA) gene was amplified. Six lice (30%) were positive for Bartonella DNA, and all sequences found belonged to Bartonella vinsonii Brenner et al. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a member of B. vinsonii complex associated with sucking lice.