Tick-borne Diseases: Tick-borne Spotted Fever Rickettsioses in Africa
In the field of tick-borne rickettsioses, discussion is ongoing about new vectors and the geographic zones of the diseases. New Rickettsia spp. that cannot yet be linked to human disease are sometimes detected in arthropods. In Africa, in addition to R. conorii and R. africae, seven distinct species of tick-borne rickettsiae are considered to be human pathogens. A combination of clinical alertness and molecular tools such as PCR base detection of DNA and sequencing help to describe new diseases.
aService de Médecine Interne et Maladies Infectieuses, Centre Hospitalier Territorial de Nouvelle Calédonie, BP J 5, 98849 Nouméa Cedex, France
bUnité des Rickettsies, URMITE CNRS-IRD 6236, WHO Collaborative Centre for Rickettsial and other Arthropod Borne Bacterial Diseases, Faculté de Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, 27 Bd. Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille Cedex 5, France
cDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Ullevål University Hospital, NO-0407 Oslo, Norway
ABSTRACT