Human Infection with Rickettsia felis, Kenya.
To determine the cause of acute febrile illnesses other than malaria in the North Eastern Province, Kenya, we investigated rickettsial infection among patients from Garissa Provincial Hospital for 23 months during 2006-2008. Nucleic acid preparations of serum from 6 (3.7%) of 163 patients were positive for rickettsial DNA as determined by a genus-specific quantitative real-time PCR and were subsequently confirmed by molecular sequencing to be positive for Rickettsia felis. The 6 febrile patients' symptoms included headache; nausea; and muscle, back, and joint pain. None of the patients had a skin rash.
Richards
Allen L
AL
Naval Medical Research Center, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
Jiang
Ju
J
Omulo
Sylvia
S
Dare
Ryan
R
Abdirahman
Khalif
K
Ali
Abdile
A
Sharif
Shanaaz K
SK
Feikin
Daniel R
DR
Breiman
Robert F
RF
Njenga
M Kariuki
MK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000635:transmission; D041161:Rickettsia felis / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055815:Young Adult
D004269:DNA, Bacterial