title: Human prevalence of the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae in endemic zones of Northwestern Colombia.
abstract: In February 2006, an outbreak of human rickettsiosis occurred in the municipality of Necoclí Colombia, with 35% of lethality. This episode was, followed by two more, one in the municipality of Los Cordobas in 2007 with a 54% of lethality and the other one in the municipality of Turbo in 2008 with 27% of lethality. The aim of this study was to perform serological tests in healthy persons to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae and develop a survey to study some infection risk-related factors. A cross-sectional study was performed in 2011 and 2012. A blood sample and survey of associated factors was performed in healthy persons. A prevalence of 32%-41% was found in healthy people. From the multivariate analysis, we found that people living more than 16 years in these sites had a 79% higher risk of being seropositive and a 46% higher risk when they reported having birds in their houses if the variable of having a horse was included in the model. In conclusion, this study shows endemicity of at least one spotted fever group Rickettsia in the study zone.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias, Centauro, Universidad de Antioquia U de A, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Andrés F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Londoño
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias, Centauro, Universidad de Antioquia U de A, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Leidy Y
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Acevedo-Gutiérrez
authors.affiliation: Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marín
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas del Trópico, Universidad de Córdoba, Montería, Colombia.
authors.forename: Verónica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Contreras
authors.affiliation: Grupo Inmunovirología, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Díaz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), Galveston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valbuena
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Veterinária Preventiva e Saúde Animal, Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcelo B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Labruna
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiología, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Marylin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Instituto Colombiano de Medicina Tropical, ICMT - CES, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arboleda
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas del Trópico, Universidad de Córdoba, Montería, Colombia.
authors.forename: Salim
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mattar
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biología, Grupo de Mastozoología, Colección Teriológica de la Universidad de Antioquia, CTUA, Medellín, Colombia.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Solari
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias, Centauro, Universidad de Antioquia U de A, Calle 70 No. 52-21, Medellín, Colombia. Electronic address: jdavid.rodas@udea.edu.co.
authors.forename: Juan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rodas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D000073605:Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Birds; Colombia; Equines; Rickettsia