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¹ Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
² Department of Wildlife, Humboldt State University, Arcata, California 95521, USA
³ Department of Biological Sciences, California State University, Sacramento, California 95819, USA
⁴ Viral and Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA
⁵ Corresponding author (email: jefoley{at}ucdavis.edu)

ABSTRACT:   Epidemic typhus, caused by Rickettsia prowazekii, is maintained in a southern flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) sylvatic cycle in the southeastern United States. The northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus) has not been previously associated with R. prowazekii transmission. A second rickettsial pathogen, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, infects dusky-footed woodrats (Neotoma fuscipes) and tree squirrels in northern California. Because northern flying squirrels or their ectoparasites have not been tested for these rickettsial pathogens, serology and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were used to test 24 northern flying squirrels for R. prowazekii and A. phagocytophilum infection or antibodies. Although there was no evidence of exposure to R. prowazekii, we provide molecular evidence of A. phagocytophilum infection in one flying squirrel; two flying squirrels also were seropositive for this pathogen. Fleas and ticks removed from the squirrels included Ceratophyllus ciliatus mononis, Opisodasys vesperalis, Ixodes hearlei, Ixodes pacificus, and Dermacentor paramapertus.
  Key words:  Anaplasma phagocytophilum, epidemic typhus, granulocytic anaplasmosis, Rickettsia prowazekii, rodents, sylvatic typhus, vectorborne disease.