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Rickettsia parkeri Infection
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Pathogenesis and Transmission
The agent was first isolated from the Gulf Coast tick A. maculatum in 1937 (Parker et al., 1939). Meanwhile it has also been isolated from A. triste in Uruguay (Pacheco et al., 2006) and Brazil (Silveira et al., 2007). Experimental infection of A. cajennense ticks with R. parkeri (Sangioni et al., 2005) and transstadial and transovarial transmission of R. parkeri in A. americanum, the Lone Star tick, could also be proven in the lab (Goddard, 2003), so that the distribution of R. parkeri might even be larger than the documented distribution so far. The agent is transmitted via the infected tick during feeding.
Further information
- Goddard J: Experimental infection of lone star ticks, Amblyomma americanum (L.), with Rickettsia parkeri and exposure of guinea pigs to the agent. J Med Entomol. 2003, 40, 686-9
- Pacheco RC, Venzal JM, Richtzenhain LJ, et al.: Rickettsia parkeri in Uruguay. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006, 12, 1804-5
- Parker RR, Kohls GM, Cox GW, et al.: Observations on an infectious agent from Amblyomma maculatum. Public Health Rep. 1939, 54, 1482-4
- Sangioni LA, Horta MC, Vianna MC, et al.: Rickettsial infection in animals and Brazilian spotted fever endemicity. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005, 11, 265-70
- Silveira I, Pacheco RC, Szabó MP, et al.: Rickettsia parkeri in Brazil. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007, 13, 1111-3
