ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Traditional identification methods used in bacteriology are hardly applicable to rickettsiae because of the few phenotypic characters expressed by these strictly intracellular organisms. As a consequence, “rickettsia” has long been used as a generic term for many small bacteria that could not be cultivated. However, the taxonomy of bacteria within the order Rickettsiales has been reorganized over recent years and continues to be modified as new data become available (1-3). Currently, this order contains the family Rickettsiaceae, which includes the genera Rickettsia and Orientia, and the family Anaplasmataceae, which groups the genera Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Neorickettsia, and Wolbachia.
