Rickettsia parkeri: a newly recognized cause of spotted fever rickettsiosis in the United States.
Ticks, including many that bite humans, are hosts to several obligate intracellular bacteria in the spotted fever group (SFG) of the genus Rickettsia. Only Rickettsia rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, has been definitively associated with disease in humans in the United States. Herein we describe disease in a human caused by Rickettsia parkeri, an SFG rickettsia first identified >60 years ago in Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum) collected from the southern United States. Confirmation of the infection was accomplished using serological testing, immunohistochemical staining, cell culture isolation, and molecular methods. Application of specific laboratory assays to clinical specimens obtained from patients with febrile, eschar-associated illnesses following a tick bite may identify additional cases of R. parkeri rickettsiosis and possibly other novel SFG rickettsioses in the United States.
Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Infectious Disease Pathology Activity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. cpaddock@cdc.gov
Christopher D
CD
Paddock
John W
JW
Sumner
James A
JA
Comer
Sherif R
SR
Zaki
Cynthia S
CS
Goldsmith
Jerome
J
Goddard
Susan L F
SL
McLellan
Cynthia L
CL
Tamminga
Christopher A
CA
Ohl
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D017282:Tick-Borne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology