scholarly journals Rickettsia africae: identifying gaps in the current knowledge on vector-pathogen-host interactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (08) ◽  
pp. 1039-1047
Author(s):  
Estere Mazhetese ◽  
Vlademiro Magaia ◽  
Elisa Taviani ◽  
Luis Neves ◽  
Darshana Morar-Leather
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Tick Species ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Amblyomma Variegatum ◽  
Amblyomma Hebraeum ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Rickettsia Africae ◽  
African Tick Bite Fever ◽  
Tick Bite Fever

Rickettsia africae is a bacterium of zoonotic importance, which causes African tick bite fever (ATBF) in humans. This pathogen is transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma, with Amblyomma hebraeum and Amblyomma variegatum being the major vectors. Tick species other than the above-mentioned have also been reported to carry R. africae DNA. There is scarcity of information on the epidemiology of this pathogen, yet several cases have been recorded in foreign travellers who visited endemic areas, especially southern Africa. The disease has rarely been described in people from endemic regions. The aim of this study was to discuss the information that is currently available on the epidemiology of R. africae, highlighting the gaps in this field. Furthermore, ATBF cases, clinical signs and the locations where the cases occurred are also listed in this review.

scholarly journals Amblyomma hebraeum is the predominant tick species on goats in the Mnisi Community Area of Mpumalanga Province South Africa and is co-infected with Ehrlichia ruminantium and Rickettsia africae

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frans Jongejan ◽  
Laura Berger ◽  
Suzanne Busser ◽  
Iris Deetman ◽  
Manon Jochems ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Tick Species ◽  
Amblyomma Hebraeum ◽  
Ehrlichia Ruminantium ◽  
Mpumalanga Province ◽  
Rickettsia Africae ◽  
Community Area

Abstract The authors have withdrawn this preprint from Research Square

scholarly journals Rickettsia africae sp. nov., the Etiological Agent of African Tick Bite Fever

1996 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. KELLY ◽  
L. BEATI ◽  
P. R. MASON ◽  
L. A. MATTHEWMAN ◽  
V. ROUX ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Etiological Agent ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
Rickettsia Africae ◽  
African Tick Bite Fever ◽  
Tick Bite Fever

scholarly journals South African Typhus

1935 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrianus Pijper ◽  
Helen Dau
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Guinea Pigs ◽  
The Other ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
African Tick Bite Fever ◽  
The World ◽  
Cross Immunity ◽  
Tick Bite Fever ◽  
Previous Occasion

From an outbreak of very mild “typhus-like disease” in Pretoria, which strongly resembled the cases of “sporadic” or “mild” typhus occasionally occurring in that town, a virus was isolated which was studied in guinea-pigs and rabbits, and was found to belong to the typhus-group.This virus in cross-immunity experiments with virus of South African louse-typhus and South African tick-bite fever and also in other respects behaved exactly like the typhus-like virus the authors on a previous occasion isolated from rats in a South African town where cases of “mild” or “ sporadic ” typhus have been known to occur regularly for many years.This constitutes evidence that South African “mild” or “sporadic” typhus comes from rats and is communicated to man by rat-fleas.In southern Africa, therefore, one has to reckon with three typhus-like diseases: tick-bite fever, flea-typhus from rats, and louse-typhus. Tick-bite fever has a primary sore, the tick-bite, as a pathognomic symptom, the other two can only be differentiated satisfactorily from one another by cross-immunity tests.Agglutination reactions and cross-immunity tests show that South African louse-typhus and South African rat- or flea-typhus are not identical with similar diseases in other parts of the world.Tick-bite fever is a mild typhus-like disease extending from the Cape to South Rhodesia.The typhus-like disease of Kenya is not tick-bite fever, and seems to be identical with fièvre boutonneuse.

Bats and bat-borne diseases: a perspective on Australian megabats

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin H. J. Ng ◽  
Michelle L. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Clinical Signs ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Hendra Virus ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Highly Pathogenic ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Wide Range

Bats are the second most species rich and abundant group of mammals and display an array of unique characteristics but are also among the most poorly studied mammals. They fill an important ecological niche and have diversified into a wide range of habitats. In recent years, bats have been implicated as reservoirs for some of the most highly pathogenic emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases reported to date, including SARS-like coronavirus, Ebola, Hendra and Nipah viruses. The ability of bats to harbour these viruses in the absence of clinical signs of disease has resulted in a resurgence of interest in bat biology and virus–host interactions. Interest in bats, in Australia in particular, has intensified following the identification of several novel bat-borne viruses from flying-foxes, including Hendra virus, which is capable of spillover from bats to horses and subsequently to humans with potentially fatal consequences. As we continue to encroach on the natural habitats of bats, a better understanding of bat biology, ecology and virus–host interactions has never before been so critical. In this review, we focus on the biology of Australian pteropid bats and the pathogens they harbour, summarising current knowledge of bat-borne diseases, bat ecology, ethology and immunology.

scholarly journals First report of African tick-bite fever in a South American traveler

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2050313X1877530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo N Angerami ◽  
Felipe S Krawczak ◽  
Fernanda A Nieri-Bastos ◽  
Fabiana Santos ◽  
Claudio Medorima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Skin Lesions ◽  
Definitive Diagnosis ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
South American ◽  
Serum Samples ◽  
Rickettsia Africae ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
African Tick Bite Fever ◽  
Tick Bite Fever

We report a clinical case of African tick-bite fever in a Brazilian traveler right after his return from South Africa. Definitive diagnosis was supported by seroconversion between acute-phase and convalescent-phase serum samples, detection of rickettsial DNA in skin lesions, and in vitro culture of Rickettsia africae from the patient’s skin. Most of the previous reported cases of African tick-bite fever were confirmed solely by serological or/and molecular methods. Through this first confirmed case of African tick-bite fever in Brazil, it is quite possible that other cases are occurring unnoticed by the health authorities, requiring a greater vigilance in traveler’s medicine in South America.

scholarly journals A Case of African Tick-Bite Fever in a Returning Traveler from Southern Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Woonji Lee ◽  
Hye Seong ◽  
Jung Ho Kim ◽  
Heun Choi ◽  
Jun Hyoung Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
African Tick Bite Fever ◽  
Tick Bite Fever

scholarly journals Kinetics of Antibody Responses in Rickettsia africae and Rickettsia conorii Infections

2002 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 324-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Edouard Fournier ◽  
Mogens Jensenius ◽  
Herman Laferl ◽  
Sirka Vene ◽  
Didier Raoult
Keyword(s):  
Spotted Fever ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Tick Bite ◽  
Rickettsia Conorii ◽  
Mediterranean Spotted Fever ◽  
Doxycycline Treatment ◽  
Rickettsia Africae ◽  
Mediterranean Countries ◽  
African Tick Bite Fever ◽  
Tick Bite Fever

ABSTRACT African tick-bite fever, caused by Rickettsia africae, is the most common tick-borne rickettsiosis in sub-Saharan Africa. Mediterranean spotted fever due to Rickettsia conorii also occurs in the region but is more prevalent in Mediterranean countries. Using microimmunofluorescence, we compared the development of immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgM titers in 48 patients with African tick-bite fever and 48 patients with Mediterranean spotted fever. Doxycycline treatment within 7 days from the onset of disease significantly prevented the development of antibodies to R. africae. In patients with African tick-bite fever, the median times to seroconversion with IgG and IgM were 28 and 25 days, respectively, after the onset of symptoms. These were significantly longer by a median of 6 days for IgG and 9 days for IgM than the times for seroconversion in patients with Mediterranean spotted fever (P < 10−2). We recommend that sera collected 4 weeks after the onset of signs of patients with suspected African tick-bite fever should be used for the definitive serological diagnosis of R. africae infections.

scholarly journals Parasites of domestic and wild animals in South Africa. XLIX. Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) infesting white and black rhinoceroses in southern Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 84 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan G. Horak ◽  
Christiaan R. Boshoff ◽  
David V. Cooper ◽  
Christoper M. Foggin ◽  
Danny Govender ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Tick Species ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Amblyomma Hebraeum ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Drought Tolerant ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Hyalomma Rufipes

The objectives of the study were to determine the species composition of ticks infesting white and black rhinoceroses in southern Africa as well as the conservation status of those tick species that prefer rhinos as hosts. Ticks were collected opportunistically from rhinos that had been immobilised for management purposes, and 447 white rhinoceroses (Ceratotherium simum) and 164 black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis) were sampled in South Africa, 61 black rhinos in Namibia, 18 white and 12 black rhinos in Zimbabwe, and 24 black rhinos in Zambia. Nineteen tick species were recovered, of which two species, Amblyomma rhinocerotis and Dermacentor rhinocerinus, prefer rhinos as hosts. A. rhinocerotis was collected only in the northeastern KwaZulu-Natal reserves of South Africa and is endangered, while D. rhinocerinus is present in these reserves as well as in the Kruger National Park and surrounding conservancies. Eight of the tick species collected from the rhinos are ornate, and seven species are regularly collected from cattle. The species present on rhinos in the eastern, moister reserves of South Africa were amongst others Amblyomma hebraeum, A. rhinocerotis, D. rhinocerinus, Rhipicephalus maculatus, Rhipicephalus simus and Rhipicephalus zumpti, while those on rhinos in the Karoo and the drier western regions, including Namibia, were the drought-tolerant species, Hyalomma glabrum, Hyalomma rufipes, Hyalomma truncatum and Rhipicephalus gertrudae. The species composition of ticks on rhinoceroses in Zambia differed markedly from those of the other southern African countries in that Amblyomma sparsum, Amblyomma tholloni and Amblyomma variegatum accounted for the majority of infestations.

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