ABSTRACT
Boutonneuse or Mediterranean spotted fever, is an analogous organism to R. rickettsii and is found in parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. It is primarily transmitted by dog ticks of the genus Rhipicephalus, and dogs and rodents are the chief animal reservoirs. Dogs appear to have subclinical infection, but they may facilitate transport of ticks and serve as reservoir hosts for infection of humans. Although infection of dogs by R. massiliae has been suggested based on serological results, the agent has yet to be detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or isolated from dogs. African tick bite fever (R. africae), R. parkeri rickettsiosis, Queensland tick typhus (R. australis), Flinder’s Island spotted fever (R. honei), Astrakhan fever (Astrakhan fever rickettsia), Japanese spotted fever (R. japonica), North Asian tick typhus (R. sibirica) and unnamed European rickettsioses (R. helvetica, R. mongolotimonae and R. slovaca) are diseases of humans caused by other SFG rickettsiae and transmitted by arthropods in geographically distinct regions. The clinical significance in, or reservoir status of, dogs or cats for these infections has not been determined.
