Rickettsia
Rickettsia prowazekii
A species of gram-negative, aerobic bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus fever acquired through contact with lice (TYPHUS, EPIDEMIC LOUSE-BORNE) as well as Brill's disease.
Rickettsia rickettsii
A species of gram-negative, aerobic bacteria that is the etiologic agent of ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER. Its cells are slightly smaller and more uniform in size than those of RICKETTSIA PROWAZEKII.
Rickettsia felis
A species of gram-negative bacteria transmitted by the flea Ctenocephalides felis, and known to infect CATS, oppossums, and humans.
Typhus, Epidemic Louse-Borne
The classic form of typhus, caused by RICKETTSIA PROWAZEKII, which is transmitted from man to man by the louse Pediculus humanus corporis. This disease is characterized by the sudden onset of intense headache, malaise, and generalized myalgia followed by the formation of a macular skin eruption and vascular and neurologic disturbances.
Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
An acute febrile illness caused by RICKETTSIA RICKETTSII. It is transmitted to humans by bites of infected ticks and occurs only in North and South America. Characteristics include a sudden onset with headache and chills and fever lasting about two to three weeks. A cutaneous rash commonly appears on the extremities and trunk about the fourth day of illness.
Boutonneuse Fever
Orientia tsutsugamushi
Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne
An infectious disease clinically similar to epidemic louse-borne typhus (TYPHUS, EPIDEMIC LOUSE-BORNE), but caused by RICKETTSIA TYPHI, which is transmitted from rat to man by the rat flea, XENOPSYLLA CHEOPIS.
Ticks
Blood-sucking acarid parasites of the order Ixodida comprising two families: the softbacked ticks (ARGASIDAE) and hardbacked ticks (IXODIDAE). Ticks are larger than their relatives, the MITES. They penetrate the skin of their host by means of highly specialized, hooked mouth parts and feed on its blood. Ticks attack all groups of terrestrial vertebrates. In humans they are responsible for many TICK-BORNE DISEASES, including the transmission of ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER; TULAREMIA; BABESIOSIS; AFRICAN SWINE FEVER; and RELAPSING FEVER. (From Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology, 5th ed, pp543-44)
Dermacentor
A widely distributed genus of TICKS, in the family IXODIDAE, including a number that infest humans and other mammals. Several are vectors of diseases such as TULAREMIA; ROCKY MOUNTAIN SPOTTED FEVER; COLORADO TICK FEVER; and ANAPLASMOSIS.
Ixodidae
A family of hardbacked TICKS, in the subclass ACARI. Genera include DERMACENTOR and IXODES among others.
Tick-Borne Diseases
Bacterial, viral, or parasitic diseases transmitted to humans and animals by the bite of infected ticks. The families Ixodidae and Argasidae contain many bloodsucking species that are important pests of man and domestic birds and mammals and probably exceed all other arthropods in the number and variety of disease agents they transmit. Many of the tick-borne diseases are zoonotic.
Coxiella
A genus of gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that is widely distributed in TICKS and various mammals throughout the world. Infection with this genus is particularly prevalent in CATTLE; SHEEP; and GOATS.
Rickettsiaceae
Rickettsieae
A tribe of gram-negative bacteria of the family RICKETTSIACEAE whose organisms are found in arthropods and are pathogenic for man and certain other vertebrate hosts.
Rickettsiaceae Infections
Infections with bacteria of the family RICKETTSIACEAE.
Arachnid Vectors
Members of the class Arachnida, especially SPIDERS; SCORPIONS; MITES; and TICKS; which transmit infective organisms from one host to another or from an inanimate reservoir to an animate host.
Rickettsial Vaccines
Rhipicephalus sanguineus
A species of tick (TICKS) in the family IXODIDAE, distributed throughout the world but abundant in southern Europe. It will feed on a wide variety of MAMMALS, but DOGS are its preferred host. It transmits a large number of diseases including BABESIOSIS; THEILERIASIS; EHRLICHIOSIS; and MEDITERRANEAN SPOTTED FEVER.
Rickettsia akari
Arthropod Vectors
Phthiraptera
Ixodes
Citrate (si)-Synthase
Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
Polymerase Chain Reaction
In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.
Bartonella
A genus of gram-negative bacteria characteristically appearing in chains of several segmenting organisms. It occurs in man and arthropod vectors and is found only in the Andes region of South America. This genus is the etiologic agent of human bartonellosis. The genus Rochalimaea, once considered a separate genus, has recently been combined with the genus Bartonella as a result of high levels of relatedness in 16S rRNA sequence data and DNA hybridization data.
Vero Cells
Sequence Analysis, DNA
Nymph
The immature stage in the life cycle of those orders of insects characterized by gradual metamorphosis, in which the young resemble the imago in general form of body, including compound eyes and external wings; also the 8-legged stage of mites and ticks that follows the first moult.
Molecular Sequence Data
Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.
Trombiculidae
Family of MITES in the superfamily Trombiculoidea, suborder Prostigmata, which attack humans and other vertebrates, causing DERMATITIS and severe allergic reactions. Chiggers, red bugs, and harvest mites commonly refer to the larval stage of Trombiculid mites, the only parasitic stage of the mite's life cycle.
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Ctenocephalides
A genus of FLEAS in the family Pulicidae. It includes the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis), one of the most common species on earth.
Ehrlichia
Small, often pleomorphic, coccoid to ellipsoidal organisms occurring intracytoplasmically in circulating LYMPHOCYTES. They are the etiologic agents of tick-borne diseases of humans; DOGS; CATTLE; SHEEP; GOATS; and HORSES.
L Cells (Cell Line)
Species Specificity
The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species.
Q Fever
An acute infectious disease caused by COXIELLA BURNETII. It is characterized by a sudden onset of FEVER; HEADACHE; malaise; and weakness. In humans, it is commonly contracted by inhalation of infected dusts derived from infected domestic animals (ANIMALS, DOMESTIC).
Pediculus
Ectoparasitic Infestations
Coxiella burnetii
A species of gram-negative bacteria that grows preferentially in the vacuoles of the host cell. It is the etiological agent of Q FEVER.
Dog Diseases
Hemiptera
Ehrlichiosis
A tick-borne disease characterized by FEVER; HEADACHE; myalgias; ANOREXIA; and occasionally RASH. It is caused by several bacterial species and can produce disease in DOGS; CATTLE; SHEEP; GOATS; HORSES; and humans. The primary species causing human disease are EHRLICHIA CHAFFEENSIS; ANAPLASMA PHAGOCYTOPHILUM; and Ehrlichia ewingii.