About the Authors

Hamza Leulmi

Affiliations Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France, Ecole Nationale Supérieure Vétérinaire d’Alger, Alger, Algérie

Idir Bitam

Affiliations Ecole Nationale Supérieure Vétérinaire d’Alger, Alger, Algérie, Université de Boumerdes, Laboratoire VALCORE, Faculté des Sciences, Boumerdes, Algérie, Université de Bab Ezzouar, Laboratoire d’Ecologie et Environnement, Alger, Algérie

Jean Michel Berenger

Affiliation Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France

Hubert Lepidi

Affiliation Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France

Jean Marc Rolain

Affiliation Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France

Lionel Almeras

Affiliation Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France

Didier Raoult

Affiliation Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France

Philippe Parola

philippe.parola@univ-amu.fr

Affiliation Aix Marseille Université, Unité de Recherche en Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes (URMITE), UM63, CNRS 7278, IRD 198 (Dakar), Inserm 1095, World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborative Center for Rickettsioses and Other Arthropod-Borne Bacterial Diseases, Marseille, France

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: DR PP. Performed the experiments: HLeu IB JMB HLep PP. Analyzed the data: DR PP IB LA JMR HLeu. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: DR HLep. Wrote the paper: HLeu IB JMB LA PP.