A human case of spotted fever caused by Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest and its association to the tick Amblyomma ovale.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Rickettsia parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest has emerged in Brazil during the last 10 years, with three laboratory-confirmed human cases. While these cases were epidemiologically associated with the tick Amblyomma ovale, in none of them the tick specimens that bit the patients could be identified.

Results

We report a clinical case of spotted fever rickettsiosis that was acquired in an Atlantic forest area in Bahia state, northeast Brazil. The case was determined to be caused by R. parkeri strain Atlantic rainforest, based on molecular analysis of the crust removed from the tick bite site (inoculation eschar) of the patients' skin. DNA extracted from the crust yielded partial sequences of three rickettsial genes (gltA, ompA and ompB), which were 99-100% identical

SUBMITTER: da Paixao Seva A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6790035 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature