Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in cattle in France.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is the agent of pasture fever or tick-borne fever, a disease of ruminants and humans in the United States and in Europe. Although several hundred cases have been suspected to occur in cattle in France, none has yet been microbiologically confirmed. We report the first identification of A. phagocytophilum 16S RNA gene sequence in a case of TBF in France. This indicates that the diagnosis of tick-borne fever should be also evoked in cattle exposed to Ixodes ticks in France.