| [on the report of mrs. schiff-wertheimer, messrs. p. giroud, j. schneider, and j. grelier at the société d'ophtalmologie de paris on the subject of meningo-uveo-papillites caused by rickettsia conorii the agent of boutonneuse fever]. | | 1954 | 13230824 |
| [new contribution to the experimental study of exanthemata in rickettsial diseases; conditions for their production in rabbits with rickettsia conorii; their relation to allergic phenomenon]. | | 1958 | 13536770 |
| expression analysis of the t-cell-targeting chemokines cxcl9 and cxcl10 in mice and humans with endothelial infections caused by rickettsiae of the spotted fever group. | rocky mountain spotted fever and other related diseases are systemic infections caused by rickettsiae. these obligatory intracellular bacteria target the endothelium, offering an appealing model to study the interactions between endothelial cells and t lymphocytes. we investigated the mrna expression of chemokines known to target cd8+ t cells and cd4(+) t-helper 1 cells in the lungs of c3h/hen mice infected with rickettsia conorii with the purpose of identifying evidence for a role of chemokines ... | 2003 | 14507644 |
| serologically detected "new" tick-borne zoonoses in eastern croatia. | to establish serologically a contact with causative agents of human monocytic and granulocytic ehrlichiosis, human babesiosis, recently detected rickettsioses, and lyme disease in individuals with a history of tick bite from three counties in eastern croatia. | 2003 | 14515426 |
| first isolation of rickettsia conorii from human blood in croatia. | to detect and isolate rickettsial strains from blood samples of patients with presumptive diagnosis of mediterranean spotted fever (msf) in the coastal region of south croatia, and to compare the results with routine serology. | 2003 | 14515427 |
| identification and characterization of a phospholipase d-superfamily gene in rickettsiae. | the completion of the sequencing of the genomes of both rickettsia conorii and r. prowazekii provides the opportunity to identify putative virulence factors within these strictly intracellular pathogens. a role for a phospholipase a(2) (pla(2)) in rickettsial pathogenicity was hypothesized, but the corresponding gene has not been identified. we have identified a gene that encodes a putative phospholipase d (pld) and that has been detected by southern blotting in 11 analyzed strains of rickettsia ... | 2003 | 14593584 |
| pericardial effusion in a homeless man due to bartonella quintana. | bartonella quintana may cause trench fever, endocarditis, bacillary angiomatosis, and chronic bacteremia, and a reemergence among homeless populations in cities has been noted. pericarditis from rickettsia conorii and coxiella burnetii infection has been described, but there have been no reports of pericarditis due to bartonella spp. we report a case of pericardial effusion due to bartonella quintana in a homeless man, diagnosed on the basis of pcr detection of bartonella quintana in a pericardi ... | 2003 | 14605187 |
| [neurological feature of mediterranean spotted fever: a study of four cases]. | rickettsia conorii is the etiologic agent of mediterranean spotted fever that is endemic in mediterranean. | 2003 | 14656643 |
| spotted-fever-group rickettsioses in north asia. | | 2003 | 14667766 |
| causes of febrile illnesses after a tick bite in slovenian children. | to establish the etiology in slovenian children with febrile illnesses occurring after a tick bite. | 2003 | 14688569 |
| cell biology: pathogen propulsion. | | 2004 | 14749815 |
| the ricka protein of rickettsia conorii activates the arp2/3 complex. | actin polymerization, the main driving force for cell locomotion, is also used by the bacteria listeria and shigella and vaccinia virus for intracellular and intercellular movements. seminal studies have shown the key function of the arp2/3 complex in nucleating actin and generating a branched array of actin filaments during membrane extension and pathogen movement. arp2/3 requires activation by proteins such as the wasp-family proteins or acta of listeria. we previously reported that actin tail ... | 2004 | 14749835 |
| histopathologic features of and lymphoid populations in the skin of patients with the spotted fever group of rickettsiae: southern africa. | | 2004 | 15009388 |
| detection of antibodies to tick salivary antigens among patients from a region of spain. | with a view to determine which tick species bite humans most frequently in the province of soria (spain) and to know whether these species act as vectors of rickettsia conorii and/or borrelia burgdorferi, we analysed the presence of antibodies against salivary proteins of several tick species and of antibodies against r. conorii and b. burgdorferi sensu lato in 102 samples of serum. the sera were collected from 63 patients who were treated for tick bites at the health services of the soria healt ... | 2004 | 15012027 |
| posterior segment manifestations of rickettsia conorii infection. | to characterize and analyze the posterior segment manifestations of mediterranean spotted fever (msf), an infectious disease caused by rickettsia conorii. | 2004 | 15019331 |
| fc-dependent polyclonal antibodies and antibodies to outer membrane proteins a and b, but not to lipopolysaccharide, protect scid mice against fatal rickettsia conorii infection. | an emphasis on cellular immunity against rickettsia has led to neglect of analysis of the role of antibody. the availability of an excellent mouse model of spotted fever rickettsiosis enabled investigation of a potential role of antibody in immunity to rickettsia conorii. c3h severe combined immunodeficiency (scid) mice were passively transfused with monoclonal antibodies against rickettsial outer membrane protein a (ompa), ompb, or lipopolysaccharide (lps), polyclonal anti-r. conorii serum, fab ... | 2004 | 15039346 |
| [rickettsiosis after a stay in south africa]. | | 2004 | 15045734 |
| plasma interleukin-6 levels in mediterranean spotted fever. | | 2004 | 15103526 |
| tick-borne rickettsioses in international travellers. | tick-borne rickettsioses are of emerging importance in today's travel medicine but have until recently received little attention. we describe the current knowledge of tick-borne rickettsioses as they relate to international travel, their microbiological diagnosis, treatment, possible prevention, and future prospects. | 2004 | 15109588 |
| selective modulation of antioxidant enzyme activities in host tissues during rickettsia conorii infection. | the involvement of oxidative mechanisms in the pathogenesis of rickettsiosis was investigated using infection of c3h/hen mice with sub-lethal and lethal infectious doses of rickettsia conorii, the causative agent of mediterranean spotted fever. microscopic examination of tissues at 48 and 96 h post-infection revealed characteristic pathologic features and the presence of rickettsiae in the endothelium of infected tissues. activities of key antioxidant enzymes, namely glutathione peroxidase, glut ... | 2004 | 15120155 |
| chronic canine ehrlichiosis (ehrlichia canis): a retrospective study of 19 natural cases. | nineteen dogs from greece with chronic ehrlichiosis were studied. the dogs exhibited bicytopenia or pancytopenia, bone marrow hypoplasia, seroreactivity to ehrlichia canis (e. canis) antigens, and had no history of drug or radiation exposure. anorexia, depression, severe bleeding tendencies, hypoalbuminemia, and increased serum alanine aminotransferase activity were also hallmarks of the disease. all these animals eventually died, irrespective of the treatment applied. some dogs were also serolo ... | 2004 | 15131097 |
| effect of antibody on the rickettsia-host cell interaction. | a recent study demonstrated that polyclonal antibodies to rickettsia conorii and monoclonal antibodies to outer membrane proteins a (ompa) and b (ompb) provided effective, fc-dependent, passive immunity, even in severe combined immunodeficient mice with an established infection. in order to determine the mechanism of protection, mouse endothelial and macrophage-like cell lines were infected with r. conorii that had been exposed to polyclonal antibodies, monoclonal antibodies to ompa or ompb, fab ... | 2004 | 15155660 |
| fatal spotted fever rickettsiosis, kenya. | we report a fatal case of rickettsiosis in a woman from the united states living in kenya, who had a history of tick exposure. immunohistochemical staining of skin, kidney, and liver demonstrated spotted fever group rickettsiae. the clinical findings, severity, and fatal outcome are most consistent with rickettsia conorii infection. | 2004 | 15200829 |
| [rickettsia africae infection. three cases confirmed by pcr]. | african tick bite fever or rickettsia africae infection has been recognized as an emerging health problem in the last few years. the aim of this study was to describe 3 cases of spanish tourists who suffered from r. africae infection after visiting south africa. | 2004 | 15207109 |
| spotted fever group rickettsiae from ticks captured in sudan. | ticks were collected from ruminants in various areas of sudan in 1998 and 2000. primer pairs of rickettsial citrate synthase gene (glta) and a spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsial 190-kda surface antigen gene (rompa), respectively, were used for identification. polymerase chain reaction (pcr)-positive products were used for dna sequencing. the glta gene was detected in 55% of the ticks examined (57/104). among the 57 ticks studied, 19 were positive for the rompa gene. thus, 18% of the ticks exa ... | 2004 | 15218219 |
| [acute renal insufficiency in boutonneuse mediterranean fever: description of three cases]. | boutonneuse fever is a bacterial infection caused by rickettsia conorii. it occurs mainly in countries around the mediterranean basin. most cases are benign. however severe forms with major morbidity and a high mortality risk have been described. severe forms often involve altered mental status, hepatic cytolysis, hemostatic disturbances, pneumopathy, and kidney failure. the causes of renal complications are unclear. the purpose of this report is to describe three cases of boutonneuse fever asso ... | 2004 | 15224560 |
| tick-borne rickettsial diseases: emerging risks in europe. | ticks are currently considered the main vectors of human infectious diseases in europe, particularly since their role in the transmission of the agent of lyme borreliosis was demonstrated in the 1980s. in the recent years, ticks have also been shown to be the vectors of numerous emerging rickettsial diseases. although mediterranean spotted fever (msf) due to rickettsia conorii was thought for a long time to be the only tick-borne rickettsial disease prevalent in europe, five more spotted fever r ... | 2004 | 15225980 |
| first isolation of rickettsia conorii from humans in the trakya (european) region of turkey. | in the trakya region of turkey, located in the european part of the country, presumptive cases of mediterranean spotted fever have been diagnosed and treated every summer since the beginning of the 1990s. the aim of this prospective study was to isolate and identify the rickettsial strains from blood samples of 11 patients and from skin biopsies of 10 of these 11 patients with the diagnosis of spotted fever in the trakya region of turkey in 2003. immunofluorescence assay was performed with acute ... | 2004 | 15278729 |
| suicide pcr on skin biopsy specimens for diagnosis of rickettsioses. | as rickettsioses may be severe diseases and rickettsia prowazekii is a potential agent of bioterrorism, highly efficient diagnostic techniques are required to detect rickettsiae in patients. we developed a nested pcr assay using single-use primers targeting single-use gene fragments present in the genomes of both rickettsia conorii and r. prowazekii. we used this "suicide" pcr with dna from 103 skin biopsy specimens from patients who definitely had a rickettiosis, 109 skin biopsy specimens from ... | 2004 | 15297478 |
| [ticks and the pediatrician]. | the match between ticks and pediatricians in italy is usually a seasonal event related to the spring and summer trips and to the increasing of outdoor activity that sun and warm weather allow, both for children and ticks. so cared parents reach emergencies asking for tick removal but more often after the tick has yet been removed by empirical manoeuvres and after the killing and the destruction of the "enemy". we have scheduled, in the years 2002-2003, the 167 children that reached our unit for ... | 2004 | 15305698 |
| [emerging rickettsioses]. | ticks are known to carry and transmit a number of microbial agents that cause diseases in humans and animals. among these are members of the order rickettsiales (alpha-proteobacteria), which include the genera rickettsia and ehrlichia. the most common and well-known rickettsial human disease in europe is mediterranean spotted fever (msf), caused by rickettsia conorii. in recent years, a number of new rickettsia species have been discovered in europe, some of which have been shown to be pathogeni ... | 2004 | 15305700 |
| [coxiella burnetii: what is the reality?]. | after the second world war, in italy q fever or coxiellosis has been shown a significant relevance, a recrudescence with an epidemic state for over ten years. later, the infectious disease occurred as endemic since the 80s, the outbreaks were just isolated. workflows analysis of some authors has demonstrated the spread out of the infection throughout italian herds with a prevalence ranging from 1.2 per cent to 10 per cent. our survey carried out throughout campania area in cattle has shown a rea ... | 2004 | 15305702 |
| complete genome sequence of rickettsia typhi and comparison with sequences of other rickettsiae. | rickettsia typhi, the causative agent of murine typhus, is an obligate intracellular bacterium with a life cycle involving both vertebrate and invertebrate hosts. here we present the complete genome sequence of r. typhi (1,111,496 bp) and compare it to the two published rickettsial genome sequences: r. prowazekii and r. conorii. we identified 877 genes in r. typhi encoding 3 rrnas, 33 trnas, 3 noncoding rnas, and 838 proteins, 3 of which are frameshifts. in addition, we discovered more than 40 p ... | 2004 | 15317790 |
| t cells mediate cross-protective immunity between spotted fever group rickettsiae and typhus group rickettsiae. | rickettsioses are severe infections caused by obligately intracellular bacteria that preferentially infect the endothelium lining the vasculature. the causative agents, rickettsiae, have been divided according to biological, genetic, and antigenic parameters into 2 main groups: spotted fever and typhus. they have not been thought to stimulate cross-reactive protective immune responses; however, in this study, we show that, in relevant animal models that mimic human rickettsial infections, there ... | 2004 | 15346331 |
| [differences in the reactions of several strains of rickettsia conorii in the body louse]. | | 1954 | 14360360 |
| [mediterranean boutonneuse fever with hemagglutination positive for epidemic typhus. isolation of a strain of rickettsia conorii from the blood]. | | 1960 | 13799765 |
| early signaling events involved in the entry of rickettsia conorii into mammalian cells. | rickettsia conorii, the causative agent of mediterranean spotted fever, is able to attach to and invade a variety of cell types both in vitro and in vivo. although previous studies show that entry of r. conorii into non-phagocytic cells relies on actin polymerization, little else is known about the molecular details governing rickettsia-host cell interactions and actin rearrangements. we determined that r. conorii recruits the arp2/3 complex to the site of entry foci and that expression of an ar ... | 2004 | 15383620 |
| expression of cx3cl1 (fractalkine) in mice with endothelial-target rickettsial infection of the spotted-fever group. | fractalkine (cx3cl1) is a chemokine expressed mainly by endothelial cells, which are the major cellular targets of rickettsiae. we used immunohistochemistry to investigate the normal expression of cx3cl1 in mice and the kinetics of expression of this chemokine throughout the course of lethal and sublethal rickettsial infections in a mouse model of spotted-fever group rickettsioses. the peak of expression of fractalkine on day 3 of infection coincided with the time of infiltration of macrophages ... | 2005 | 15480764 |
| rickettsial vaccines: the old and the new. | in the past century vaccine development for prevention of rickettsial diseases has been prolific. however, in the past 20 years no new rickettsial vaccine has been manufactured and there are currently no new or old rickettsial vaccines licensed. early rickettsial vaccines were difficult, expensive and very hazardous to produce. molecular biology techniques of today are currently being used to develop new rickettsial vaccines that are standardized, inexpensive, nonhazardous and efficacious. | 2004 | 15485334 |
| effect of blocking the cxcl9/10-cxcr3 chemokine system in the outcome of endothelial-target rickettsial infections. | rickettsiae cause systemic infections such as rocky mountain spotted fever and boutonneuse fever. the main cellular target of these obligately intracellular bacteria is the endothelium. t lymphocytes are the most important effectors of immunity, and the cxcr3 ligands cxcl9 and cxcl10 may play an important role in the t cell-mediated clearance of rickettsiae from the infected vasculature as suggested by recent expression studies. here we showed that antibody-mediated neutralization of cxcl9 and c ... | 2004 | 15516632 |
| genome reduction in prokaryotic obligatory intracellular parasites of humans: a comparative analysis. | obligatory intracellular parasites have undergone significant genome reduction by gene loss over time in the context of their obligate associations with the host. the flux, streamlining and elimination of genes in these genomes constitute a selective and ongoing process. comparative analyses of five completely sequenced obligatory intracellular parasite genomes reveal that these genomes display marked similarities in patterns of protein length and frequency distribution, with substantial sharing ... | 2004 | 15545414 |
| rickettsioses and the international traveler. | the rickettsioses--zoonotic bacterial infections transmitted to humans by arthropods--were for many years considered to be oddities in travel medicine. during the previous 2 decades, however, reports of >450 travel-associated cases have been published worldwide, the vast majority being murine typhus caused by rickettsia typhi, mediterranean spotted fever caused by rickettsia conorii, african tick bite fever caused by rickettsia africae, and scrub typhus caused by orientia tsutsugamushi. most pat ... | 2004 | 15546086 |
| use of highly variable intergenic spacer sequences for multispacer typing of rickettsia conorii strains. | by use of the nearly perfectly colinear genomes of rickettsia conorii and rickettsia prowazekii, we compared the usefulness of three types of sequences for typing of r. conorii isolates: (i) 5 variable coding genes comprising the 16s ribosomal dna, glta, ompb, and sca4 (gene d) genes, which are present in both genomes, and the ompa gene, which is degraded in r. prowazekii; (ii) 28 genes degraded in r. conorii but intact in r. prowazekii, including 23 split and 5 remnant genes; and (iii) 27 conse ... | 2004 | 15583310 |
| metagrowth: a new resource for the building of metabolic hypotheses in microbiology. | metagrowth is a new type of knowledge base developed to guide the experimental studies of culture conditions of obligate parasitic bacteria. we have gathered biological evidences giving possible clues to the development of the axenic (i.e. 'cell-free') growth of obligate parasites from various sources including published literature, genomic sequence information, metabolic databases and transporter databases. the database entries are composed of those evidences and specific hypotheses derived fro ... | 2005 | 15608207 |
| concomitant or consecutive infection with coxiella burnetii and tickborne diseases. | q fever is a worldwide zoonosis caused by coxiella burnetii, which can be isolated from ticks. reports of people with both q fever and other tickborne diseases are rare. in this study, we describe 6 patients with q fever who were infected with 1 of the following tickborne pathogens: rickettsia conorii (2 patients), rickettsia slovaca (2), rickettsia africae (1), and francisella tularensis (1). | 2004 | 15614696 |
| update on spotted fever group rickettsiae in south africa. | until very recently, mediterranean spotted fever caused by rickettsia conorii was the only spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsioses recognized in southern africa. however, increasing medical awareness of tick-borne infections, together with the introduction of improved isolation methods and the availability of molecular techniques, have led to the identification of several new sfg rickettsioses in the region. african tick bite fever, caused by rickettsia africae, is currently the most important o ... | 2004 | 15631070 |
| [epidemiologic features of mediterranean spotted fever in portugal]. | mediterranean spotted fever (msf) is a tick-borne rickettsial disease. it is endemic in portugal and ricardo jorge recognized it in 1930. rhipicephalus sanguineus is the main vector and reservoir of the disease. in portugal the etiologic agents are two strains of rickettsia conorii complex: r. conorii malish and "israeli tick typhus". msf is clinically characterized by a vasculitis process with the classical clinical triad of fever, rash, and lesion at the site of tick bite. although the majorit ... | 2003 | 15631855 |
| some lessons from rickettsia genomics. | sequencing of the rickettsia conorii genome and its comparison with its closest sequenced pathogenic relative, i.e., rickettsia prowazekii, provided powerful insights into the evolution of these microbial pathogens. however, advances in our knowledge of rickettsial diseases are still hindered by the difficulty of working with strict intracellular bacteria and their hosts. information gained from comparing the genomes of closely related organisms will shed new light on proteins susceptible to be ... | 2005 | 15652978 |
| rep code: defining bacterial identity in extragenic space. | through the analysis of 57 bacterial genomes we have detected repetitive extragenic palindromic dna sequences (reps) in 11 species. for a sequence to be considered as rep, the following criteria should be met: (i) it should be extragenic, (ii) palindromic, (iii) of a length between 21 and 65 bases and (iv) should constitute more than 0.5% of the total extragenic space. species-specific reps have been found in human pathogens such as escherichia coli, salmonella enterica, neisseria meningitidis, ... | 2005 | 15658989 |
| transcriptional response of rickettsia conorii exposed to temperature variation and stress starvation. | rickettsia conorii is an obligate intracellular bacterium transmitted to humans by rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks. the success of this microorganism at surviving in nature implicates the ability to efficiently adapt to different environments, including the arthropod vector and the mammalian host. numerous bacterial species possess a highly evolved system for stress adaptation. this so-called stringent response is mediated by guanosine 3',5'-bispyrophosphate and guanosine 3'-diphosphate 5'-tripho ... | 2004 | 15748986 |
| spotted fever group and typhus group rickettsioses in humans, south korea. | the presence of the nucleic acid of the spotted fever group (spg) and typhus group (tg) rickettsiae was investigated in 200 serum specimens seropositive for sfg rickettsiae by multiplex-nested polymerase chain reaction with primers derived from the rickettsial outer membrane protein b gene. the dna of sfg, tg, or both rickettsiae was amplified in the 24 serum specimens, and sequence analysis showed rickettsia conorii, r. japonica, and r. felis in the specimens. r. conorii and r. typhi were found ... | 2005 | 15752441 |
| proposal to create subspecies of rickettsia conorii based on multi-locus sequence typing and an emended description of rickettsia conorii. | rickettsiae closely related to the malish strain, the reference rickettsia conorii strain, include indian tick typhus rickettsia (ittr), israeli spotted fever rickettsia (isfr), and astrakhan fever rickettsia (afr). although closely related genotypically, they are distinct serotypically. using multilocus sequence typing (mlst), we have recently found that distinct serotypes may not always represent distinct species within the rickettsia genus. we investigated the possibility of classifying ricke ... | 2005 | 15766388 |
| [clinical and epidemiological study of spotted fever group rickettsiosis in albacete, spain]. | the aim of this study was to describe the clinical and epidemiological features of spotted fever group rickettsiosis acquired in the province of albacete, spain. | 2005 | 15826542 |
| proteome analysis of rickettsia conorii by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis coupled with mass spectrometry. | the availability of genome sequence offers the opportunity to further expand our knowledge about proteins expressed by rickettsia conorii, strictly intracellular bacterium responsible for mediterranean spotted fever. using two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis combined with maldi-tof mass spectrometry, we established the first reference map of r. conorii proteome. this approach also allowed identification of groel as the major antigen recognized by rabbit serum and sera of infected ... | 2005 | 15837377 |
| comparative study of overlapping genes in bacteria, with special reference to rickettsia prowazekii and rickettsia conorii. | overlapping genes have been proposed as a means of achieving genome reduction by compressing the maximum amount of information in limited sequence space. in this report, comparative analyses of the overlapping genes of genomes of nine bacteria with different lifestyles were performed. the results clearly suggest that overlapping genes may be a result of evolutionary pressure to minimize genome size. the genomes of two closely related obligatory intracellular parasites - rickettsia prowazekii and ... | 2005 | 15879256 |
| first isolation and genotypic identification of rickettsia conorii malish 7 from a patient in greece. | | 2005 | 15902541 |
| [transient monoclonal hypergammaglobulinemia in the course of a rickettsia conorii infection]. | | 2005 | 15914294 |
| motor and sensory polyneuritis with distal conduction failure as uncommon complication of an acute rickettsia conorii infection. | rickettsia conorii is endemic in the mediterranean region. infections are mostly benign and neurological involvement is unusual. we describe a case of a man who presented with acute facial nerve palsy followed by flaccid tetraparesis due to an electrophysiologically established polyneuritis with distal conduction failure. elevated igm antibody titres for r. conorii were documented by indirect immunofluorescent antibody test. after doxycycline therapy, the patient presented a rapid clinical impro ... | 2005 | 15923013 |
| evaluation of pcr-based assay for diagnosis of spotted fever group rickettsiosis in human serum samples. | a nested pcr assay was developed for the detection of spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsiae in serum samples. the assay was based on specific primers derived from the rickettsial outer membrane protein b gene (rompb) of rickettsia conorii. an sfg rickettsia-specific signal is obtained from r. akari, r. japonica, r. sibirica, and r. conorii. other bacterial species tested did not generate any signal, attesting to the specificity of the assay. as few as seven copies of the rompb gene of r. conorii ... | 2005 | 15939751 |
| simultaneous detection of "rickettsia mongolotimonae" in a patient and in a tick in greece. | rickettsia conorii, a spotted fever group rickettsia which is transmitted by rhipicephalus sp. complex ticks, was considered until now the only pathogenic rickettsia prevalent in greece. here, we report the presence of "rickettsia mongolotimonae" (proposed name) detected simultaneously in a patient and in a hyalomma anatolicum excavatum tick, sampled on the patient. | 2005 | 16000506 |
| clinical and laboratory features of murine typhus in central tunisia: a report of seven cases. | murine or endemic typhus, caused by rickettsia typhi, has been reported in all continents. in the 1970s, no cases of murine typhus were diagnosed in tunisia. | 2005 | 16054415 |
| characterization of a tandem repeat polymorphism in rickettsia strains. | mediterranean spotted fever (msf) is a tick-borne rickettsiosis caused by 'rickettsia conorii complex' strains. in portugal, r. conorii and israeli tick typhus (itt) are the aetiological agents of this disease. a novel 65 bp tandem repeat was identified by the analysis of the r. conorii malish 7 whole genome sequence with an appropriate algorithm for searching for repeated sequences. the variable number tandem repeat (vntr) was named vntr rc-65 and this locus was amplified by pcr and sequenced i ... | 2005 | 16091434 |
| anterior ischemic optic neuropathy associated with rickettsia conorii infection. | a 43-year-old man with fever, headache, and skin rash developed unilateral acute anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. the indirect immunofluorescence test was positive for rickettsia conorii. although retinal lesions have been described in rickettsia conorii infection, this is the first reported case of ischemic optic neuropathy. this infection should be considered in a patient with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy with high fever or skin rash who inhabits or travels from an endemi ... | 2005 | 16148631 |
| detection of medically important ehrlichia by quantitative multicolor taqman real-time polymerase chain reaction of the dsb gene. | ehrlichia species are the etiological agents of emerging and life-threatening tick-borne human zoonoses, in addition to causing serious and fatal infections in companion animals and livestock. we developed the first tricolor taqman real-time polymerase chain reaction assay capable of simultaneously detecting and discriminating medically important ehrlichiae in a single reaction. analytical sensitivity of 50 copies per reaction was attained with templates from ehrlichia chaffeensis, ehrlichia ewi ... | 2005 | 16237220 |
| cerebral infarction: an unusual complication of mediterranean spotted fever. | mediterranean spotted fever is a rickettsiosis caused by rickettsia conorii and transmitted by the brown dog tick. it is considered as a benign disease but 5% to 10% of patients present with a malignant form which is the result of a diffuse vasculitis. we report here the first case of mediterranean spotted fever with cerebral vasculitis and thrombosis leading to a massive cerebral infarct and death. | 2005 | 16275553 |
| presence of rickettsia conorii subsp. israelensis, the causative agent of israeli spotted fever, in sicily, italy, ascertained in a retrospective study. | a retrospective analysis by molecular-sequence-based techniques was performed to correctly identify the etiological agent of 24 mediterranean spotted fever cases occurring in western sicily, italy, from 1987 to 2001. restriction analysis of a 632-bp pcr-amplified portion of the ompa gene allowed presumptive identification of five clinical isolates as belonging to rickettsia conorii subsp. israelensis, the etiological agent of israeli spotted fever (isf). the remaining 19 rickettsial isolates wer ... | 2005 | 16333093 |
| laboratory-confirmed mediterranean spotted fever in a japanese traveler to kenya. | a japanese traveler returning from kenya became ill, presenting with fever and a prominent, generalized rash without an eschar. results of the immunofluorescence antibody assay of the patient's sera performed in japan were compatible with illness due to a spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsia, and a presumptive diagnosis of african sfg rickettsiosis, probably either mediterranean spotted fever (msf) or african tick-bite fever (atbf), was rendered. to further define the disease diagnosis, sera wer ... | 2005 | 16354817 |
| ku70, a component of dna-dependent protein kinase, is a mammalian receptor for rickettsia conorii. | rickettsia conorii, a strictly intracellular and category c priority bacterial pathogen (niaid), invades different mammalian cells. although some signaling events involved in bacterial entry have been documented, the bacterial and host proteins mediating entry were not known. we report the identification of the ku70 subunit of dna-dependent protein kinase (dna-pk) as a receptor involved in r. conorii internalization. ku70 is recruited to r. conorii entry sites, and inhibition of ku70 expression ... | 2005 | 16360032 |
| actin-dependent movement of bacterial pathogens. | listeria, rickettsia, burkholderia, shigella and mycobacterium species subvert cellular actin dynamics to facilitate their movement within the host cytosol and to infect neighbouring cells while evading host immune surveillance and promoting their intracellular survival. 'attaching and effacing' escherichia coli do not enter host cells but attach intimately to the cell surface, inducing motile actin-rich pedestals, the function of which is currently unclear. the molecular basis of actin-based mo ... | 2006 | 16415925 |
| experimental infection models of ticks of the rhipicephalus sanguineus group with rickettsia conorii. | rhipicephalus sanguineus group ticks collected on dogs in thailand were maintained in the laboratory over several generations to test methods to infect these ticks with rickettsia conorii, the agent of mediterranean spotted fever. three methods were tested: (1) infection of adults and nymphs through artificially induced bacteremic rabbit, (2) capillary feeding of solution containing 5 x 10(3) and 5 x 10(5)pfu/ml of r. conorii to adult female ticks, and (3) immersion of engorged nymphs which were ... | 2005 | 16417432 |
| new diseases and increased risk of diseases in companion animals and horses due to transport. | dogs and horses are transported within the european union for a number of reasons. the transport per se may cause physical problems, exemplified by hyperthermia in dogs and pleuropneumonia in horses, and the stress may reactivate latent infections such as canine herpesvirus-1 and equine herpesvirus-1. preventive treatments are vital to protect dogs from ticks and mosquitoes transmitting their potentially lethal infectious agents, such as leishmania donovani infantum, babesia canis, ehrlichia can ... | 2003 | 16429803 |
| a serological study of exposure to arthropod-borne pathogens in dogs from northeastern spain. | there is limited information regarding the prevalence of many vector borne pathogens in europe and especially in spanish dogs. we investigated 206 sick and 260 clinically healthy dogs from three different regions in northeastern spain for antibodies to rickettsia conorii (rc), ehrlichia canis (ec), anaplasma phagocytophilum (ap), bartonella henselae (bh), bartonella vinsonii subsp. berkhoffii (bvb), leishmania infantum (li) and borrelia burgdorferi (bb) and for antigen of dirofilaria immitis (di ... | 2006 | 16472522 |
| characterisation of rickettsial diseases in a hospital-based population in malta. | the aim of the study was to characterise the causative agents of rickettsial disease in malta. a secondary objective was to study the epidemiology of cases of rickettsial disease. | 2006 | 16473410 |
| severe case of mediterranean spotted fever in greece with predominantly neurological features. | rickettsia conorii is endemic in greece, though only a few cases of infection have been published to date. the case of a 58-year-old man from northern greece with a severe form of mediterranean spotted fever and rapid neurological deterioration is presented here. the patient received antibiotic treatment with doxycycline, showing immediate clinical and laboratory improvement. diagnosis was confirmed later, during the second week after disease onset, by detection of elevated titres of igm and igg ... | 2006 | 16476800 |
| preliminary transcriptional analysis of spot gene family and of membrane proteins in rickettsia conorii and rickettsia felis. | rickettsiae survival implicates adaptation to different environmental conditions. we hypothesized that multiple copies of genes in bacteria with reduced genomes might account for such a process. transcription of spot and sca paralogs was thus analyzed in r. conorii and r. felis. | 2005 | 16481494 |
| rickettsia conorii and r. prowazekii proteome analysis by 2de-ms: a step toward functional analysis of rickettsial genomes. | in this work, we present a comparative two-dimensional (2d) page analysis of rickettsia conorii and rickettsia prowazekii. this analysis reveals protein spots that were either unique to or common to both strains, some of them being identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. | 2005 | 16481497 |
| phylogenetic study of rickettsia species using sequences of the autotransporter protein-encoding gene sca2. | the analyses of genome sequences from rickettsia conorii and r. prowazekii have allowed the identification of five genes encoding autotransporter proteins, including ompa and four genes annotated in the r. prowazekii genome as "surface cell antigen" (sca) genes. of these, ompa and sca5 (ompb) are known to encode membrane-exposed antigenic proteins playing a major role in the host's immune response, and sca4 encodes a truncated autotransporter protein. in order to study further the phylogeny of t ... | 2005 | 16481498 |
| the presence of eschars, but not greater severity, in portuguese patients infected with israeli spotted fever. | in portugal, mediterranean spotted fever (msf) is caused by r. conorii malish and israeli spotted fever (isf) strains. it has been suggested that the isf strain isolated from patients with msf causes different clinical manifestations compared to those caused by malish strain, namely the absence of eschar and greater severity. the aim of this study was to analyze the presence or absence of eschar and of fatality in portuguese patients infected with either malish or isf strain. of 94 patients with ... | 2005 | 16481514 |
| growth of typhus group and spotted fever group rickettsiae in insect cells. | to analyze the host dependency of rickettsial growth, nias-aeal-2 insect cells (aeal2) derived from mosquito were first used in this study. it was demonstrated that typhus group rickettsiae (tgr) grew well in aeal2 cells, but spotted fever group rickettsiae (sfgr) failed. to elucidate the inhibitory process of the growth of sfgr in aeal2 cells, the adherence and invasion were first analyzed. sfgr possessed abilities to adhere to and invade aeal2 cells as well as tgr in contrast to their inabilit ... | 2005 | 16481517 |
| nitric oxide as a mediator of increased microvascular permeability during acute rickettsioses. | rickettsiae primarily infect the microvascular endothelium, leading to changes in microvascular permeability that result in potentially severe pulmonary and cerebral edema. the mechanisms responsible for these changes are not well understood. one potential mechanism of increased vascular permeability is the anti-rickettsial nitric oxide response described by walker and colleagues. we hypothesized that anti-rickettsial levels of nitric oxide adversely affects microvascular permeability in vitro. ... | 2005 | 16481520 |
| [rickettsiosis subsequent to vacation in swaziland]. | | 2006 | 16523271 |
| mediterranean spotted fever: clinical and laboratory characteristics of 415 sicilian children. | mediterranean spotted fever (msf) is an acute febrile, zoonotic disease caused by rickettsia conorii and transmitted to humans by the brown dogtick rhipicephalus sanguineus. nearly four hundred cases are reported every year (mainly from june to september) on the italian island of sicily. the aim of the study was to analyze the clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with msf and the efficacy of the drugs administered. | 2006 | 16553943 |
| targeting rickettsia. | | 2006 | 16571887 |
| identification of two putative rickettsial adhesins by proteomic analysis. | the rickettsial membrane proteins that promote their uptake by eukaryotic host cells are unknown. to identify rickettsial ligand(s) that bind host cell surface proteins, biotinylated epithelial cells were used to probe a nitrocellulose membrane containing rickettsial extracts separated by sds-page. this overlay assay revealed that two close rickettsial ligands of approximately 32-30 kda were recognized by host cells. both proteins were identified using high resolution 2d-page coupled with mass s ... | 2006 | 16574381 |
| experimentally infected human body lice (pediculus humanus humanus) as vectors of rickettsia rickettsii and rickettsia conorii in a rabbit model. | the human body louse, the natural vector of rickettsia prowazekii, is able to experimentally transmit the normally flea-borne rickettsia r. typhi, suggesting that the relationships between the body louse and rickettsiae are not specific. we used our experimental infection model to test the ability of body lice to transmit two prevalent tick-borne rickettsiae. each of two rabbits was made bacteremic by injecting intravenously 2 x 10(6) plaque-forming units of either r. rickettsii or r. conorii. f ... | 2006 | 16606977 |
| serological evidence of rickettsia infections in forestry rangers in north-eastern italy. | the prevalence of antibodies to rickettsiae and other tick-borne microrganisms in the sera of 181 forestry rangers from friuli-venezia-giulia, italy, was examined. seven (3.9%) sera were positive for rickettsia conorii and rickettsia helvetica, as single or dual infections; four of these sera had been found previously to be positive for borrelia burgdorferi. antibodies to coxiella burnetii were detected in five (2.8%) sera, four of which were also positive for b. burgdorferi. these findings indi ... | 2006 | 16643531 |
| seroepidemiological study of rickettsia felis, rickettsia typhi, and rickettsia conorii infection among the population of southern spain. | rickettsia typhi and rickettsia conorii, the etiologic agents of, respectively, murine typhus and mediterranean spotted fever, are recognized as frequent causes of fever of intermediate duration in southern spain; in addition, in recent years rickettsia felis has been detected in potential vectors in this area. nevertheless, limited data exist regarding the actual prevalence of past infection due to these three pathogens. in the present study, the prevalence of past infection due to r. felis, r. ... | 2006 | 16767485 |
| [murine typhus imported from senegal in a travelling immigrant]. | | 2006 | 16792948 |
| epidemiology and clinical features of mediterranean spotted fever in italy. | mediterranean spotted fever is caused by rickettsia conorii and is transmitted to humans by rhipicephalus sanguineus, the common dog tick. it is characterized by the symptomatologic triad: fever, exanthema and "tache noire", the typical eschar at the site of the tick bite. in italy the most affected region is sicily. the seasonal peak of the disease (from june through september) occurs during maximal activity of immature stage ticks. severe forms of the disease have been reported in 6% of patien ... | 2006 | 16881414 |
| dog tick-borne diseases in sicily. | in sicily many tick borne diseases are endemic, in particular way those that see like main carrier ticks that prefer, for their vital cycle, climatic conditions characterized by high temperatures and a warmth-humid atmosphere. the more important pathologies transmitted by ticks causing diseases in dogs are babesiosis and ehrlichiosis. borrelia burgdorferi, anaplasma phagocytophilum, rickettsia conorii, coxiella burnetii and tick transmitted encephalitis virus assume particular relevance because ... | 2006 | 16881419 |
| impact of the excision of an ancient repeat insertion on rickettsia conorii guanylate kinase activity. | the genomic sequencing of rickettsia conorii revealed a new family of rickettsia-specific palindromic elements (rpes) capable of in-frame insertion in preexisting open reading frames (orfs). many of these altered orfs correspond to proteins with well-characterized or essential functions in other microorganisms. previous experiments indicated that rpe-containing genes are normally transcribed and that no excision of the repeat occurs at the mrna level. using mass spectrometry, we now confirmed th ... | 2006 | 16891376 |
| serological and molecular evidence of exposure to arthropod-borne organisms in cats from northeastern spain. | one hundred sixty-eight cat sera from spain were tested for igg antibodies to rickettsia conorii (rc), ehrlichia canis (ec), anaplasma phagocytophilum (ap) and bartonella henselae (bh) antigens using ifa and for felv antigen and fiv antibody by elisa. for 47 whole blood samples, pcr testing was performed for rickettsia, ehrlichia and bartonella. seroprevalences were: bh (71.4%), rc (44%), ec (11.3%), felv (8.5%), fiv (7.4%) and ap (1.8%). bh antibodies were associated with seroreactivity to both ... | 2006 | 16919405 |
| rickettsia: an unusual cause of sepsis in the emergency department. | mediterranean spotted fever (caused by rickettsia conorii) is one of the tick-borne rickettsioses. it is prevalent in southern europe, africa and central asia and may also be seen in travellers returning from these areas. it presents with various non-specific symptoms, including fever, maculopapular rash, headache, myalgia or diarrhoea and vomiting. a visible eschar at the site of the tick bite is characteristic but not present in all cases. there is no test that reliably confirms the disease in ... | 2006 | 17057125 |
| rickettsiosis in europe. | in europe, rickettsioses are long-known infectious diseases. until recently, it was thought that mediterranean spotted fever due to rickettsia conorii was the only tick-borne rickettsiosis in europe. in the last decade new rickettsia spp. have been implicated in human pathology (r. slovaca, r. sibirica mongolotimonae, r. helvetica). furthermore, cases of infection due to flea-borne rickettsioses (r. typhi, r. felis) have been described. finally, although no outbreak of epidemic typhus has been r ... | 2006 | 17114677 |
| rickettsioses in sub-saharan africa. | although rickettsioses are among the oldest known vector-borne zoonoses, several species or subspecies of rickettsias have been identified in recent years as emerging pathogens throughout the world including in sub-saharan africa. to date, six tick-borne spotted fever group pathogenic rickettsias are known to occur in sub-saharan africa, including rickettsia conorii conorii, the agent of mediterranean spotted fever; r. conorii caspia, the agent of astrakhan fever; r. africae, the agent of africa ... | 2006 | 17114679 |
| boutonneuse fever and climate variability. | researchers have long appreciated the role of climate in vector-borne diseases, including the resurgence of boutonneuse fever (bf). portugal usually is classified as having temperate mediterranean climate. in this new century, in analyzing the data from the meteorology institute, this pattern has changed and an accentuated variability in climate is being observed. bf (febre escaro nodular) is endemic and high season is from late spring and summer. the brown dog tick rhipicephalus sanguineus. is ... | 2006 | 17114701 |
| prospective evaluation of rickettsioses in the trakya (european) region of turkey and atypic presentations of rickettsia conorii. | in 2004 between the months of may-november, 11 patients with spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsioses were admitted to the trakya university hospital in edirne, turkey. sfg rickettsioses were diagnosed clinically. before treatment, punch biopsy from skin lesions, especially from the eschar, was performed. serum specimens were tested by ifa using a panel of nine rickettsial antigens, including sfg rickettsiae and r. typhi. western blotting and standard pcr were also performed. the average age of t ... | 2006 | 17114703 |
| mediterranean spotted fever in crete, greece: clinical and therapeutic data of 15 consecutive patients. | the clinical, epidemiological, and therapeutic aspects of 15 patients with mediterranean spotted fever (msf), admitted to the internal medicine department of the general hospital of sitia (southeastern crete, greece) between december 2000 and july 2003, were studied. diagnosis was made on the basis of clinical signs and symptoms and was confirmed by serology. of the patients studied, 67% were men and 33% women, with a median age of 52 years (range of 23-76 years). ten cases (67%) were diagnosed ... | 2006 | 17114720 |
| spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks feeding on humans in northwestern spain: is rickettsia conorii vanishing? | during a 7-year study, we identified and analyzed by pcr 4,049 ticks removed from 3,685 asymptomatic patients in castilla y león (northwestern spain). a total of 320 ticks (belonging to 10 species) were pcr-positive for rickettsiae. comparison of amplicon sequences in databases enabled us to identify eight different spotted fever group (sfg) rickettsiae: rickettsia slovaca, rickettsia sp. irs3/irs4, r. massiliae/bar29, r. aeschlimannii, rickettsia sp. rpa4/dns14, r. helvetica, rickettsia sp. dms ... | 2006 | 17114733 |
| first molecular detection of r. conorii, r. aeschlimannii, and r. massiliae in ticks from algeria. | ticks collected in northern algeria between may 2001 and november 2003 were tested by pcr for the presence of rickettsia spp. dna using primer amplifying glta and ompa genes. three different spotted fever group rickettsias were amplified from these ticks: r. conorii subsp. p. conorii strain malish in rhipicephalus sanguineus, r. aeschlimannii in hyalomma marginatum, and r. massiliae in rhipicephalus turanicus. our results confirm the presence of r. conorii in ticks in algeria and provide the fir ... | 2006 | 17114743 |