title: High incidence of rickettsiosis correlated to prevalence of Rickettsia japonica among Haemaphysalis longicornis tick.
abstract: Endemic spotted fever group rickettsiosis was reported in Shimane Prefecture, Japan. From an analysis of 14 clinical cases found in the endemic area, the infectious agent of spotted fever group rickettsiosis was identified as Rickettsia japonica. In this study, we also found that Rickettsia japonica was highly infected with the vector tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, in the endemic area. These findings suggest that the high incidence of rickettsiosis in Shimane Prefecture can be explained by the high prevalence of Rickettsia japonica among Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks.
authors.affiliation: Shimane Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Matsue, Shimane 690–0122, Japan. tabara-kenji@pref.shimane.lg.jp
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tabara
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kawabata
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Asao
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Itagaki
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takada
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D026863:Ixodidae / Q000382:microbiology*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012282:Rickettsia Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial