Bacteriology Rickettsia<unk>  is a gram-negative, obligate intracellular, pleomorphic bacterium. It belongs to the genus Rickettsia, which includes many bacterial species that are transmitted to humans by arthropods. Vectors Amblyomma variegatum, male Amblyomma hebraeum, male Two species of hard ticks, Amblyoma variegatum and Amblyomma hebraeum are the most common vectors of R.<unk> . Typically, Amblyomma hebraeum transmits the bacteria in South<unk> while Amblyoma variegatum carries R.<unk>  throughout West, Central and East<unk> and through the French West Indies. Other species of Amblyomma in sub-Saharan<unk> can also transmit R.<unk>  and it may be that up to 100% of Amblyomma ticks in sub-Saharan<unk> carry R.<unk> . Amblyomma ticks are most active from November to April. These tick species frequently feed on cattle and other livestock, but can also be found feeding on wild animals in areas where farm animals are not found. Unlike other hard tick species, which passively seek hosts by clinging to plants and waiting for a potential host to brush by in passing, the Amblyomma hard ticks actively seek out hosts. Groups of tourists visiting<unk> have returned to their own countries and were diagnosed there as having been infected. Up until 1998, it was thought that only ticks in sub-Saharan<unk> carried R.<unk> . However, a case of locally transmitted<unk>  in the French West Indies led to the discovery of R.<unk>  carried by Amblyomma varigatum ticks introduced through cattle shipped from Senegal to Gaudeluope more than a century ago. R.<unk>  has been isolated from ticks on several Caribbean islands, though the only cases in humans in the Caribbean have occurred in the French West Indies. R.<unk>  has also been found in Amblyomma loculosum ticks in Oceania.
African tick bite fever
American tick bite fever
Rat-bite fever
Spondweni fever
Scabies
Colorado tick fever
Sandfly fever
Pacific Coast tick fever