Skip to main content
PMC home page
Emerging Infectious Diseases logoLink to Emerging Infectious Diseases
. 1998 Apr-Jun;4(2):179–186. doi: 10.3201/eid0402.980205

Rickettsial pathogens and their arthropod vectors.

A F Azad 1, C B Beard 1
PMCID: PMC2640117  PMID: 9621188

Abstract

Rickettsial diseases, important causes of illness and death worldwide, exist primarily in endemic and enzootic foci that occasionally give rise to sporadic or seasonal outbreaks. Rickettsial pathogens are highly specialized for obligate intracellular survival in both the vertebrate host and the invertebrate vector. While studies often focus primarily on the vertebrate host, the arthropod vector is often more important in the natural maintenance of the pathogen. Consequently, coevolution of rickettsiae with arthropods is responsible for many features of the host-pathogen relationship that are unique among arthropod-borne diseases, including efficient pathogen replication, long-term maintenance of infection, and transstadial and transovarial transmission. This article examines the common features of the host-pathogen relationship and of the arthropod vectors of the typhus and spotted fever group rickettsiae.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (97.1 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adams W. H., Emmons R. W., Brooks J. E. The changing ecology of murine (endemic) typhus in Southern California. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1970 Mar;19(2):311–318. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1970.19.311. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Azad A. F. Epidemiology of murine typhus. Annu Rev Entomol. 1990;35:553–569. doi: 10.1146/annurev.en.35.010190.003005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Azad A. F., Radulovic S., Higgins J. A., Noden B. H., Troyer J. M. Flea-borne rickettsioses: ecologic considerations. Emerg Infect Dis. 1997 Jul-Sep;3(3):319–327. doi: 10.3201/eid0303.970308. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Azad A. F., Sacci J. B., Jr, Nelson W. M., Dasch G. A., Schmidtmann E. T., Carl M. Genetic characterization and transovarial transmission of a typhus-like rickettsia found in cat fleas. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Jan 1;89(1):43–46. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.1.43. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Burgdorfer W., Brinton L. P. Mechanisms of transovarial infection of spotted fever Rickettsiae in ticks. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1975;266:61–72. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1975.tb35088.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Dumler J. S., Taylor J. P., Walker D. H. Clinical and laboratory features of murine typhus in south Texas, 1980 through 1987. JAMA. 1991 Sep 11;266(10):1365–1370. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Farhang-Azad A., Traub R., Baqar S. Transovarial transmission of murine typhus rickettsiae in Xenopsylla cheopis fleas. Science. 1985 Feb 1;227(4686):543–545. doi: 10.1126/science.3966162. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hackstadt T. The biology of rickettsiae. Infect Agents Dis. 1996 Jun;5(3):127–143. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Higgins J. A., Radulovic S., Schriefer M. E., Azad A. F. Rickettsia felis: a new species of pathogenic rickettsia isolated from cat fleas. J Clin Microbiol. 1996 Mar;34(3):671–674. doi: 10.1128/jcm.34.3.671-674.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Higgins J. A., Sacci J. B., Jr, Schriefer M. E., Endris R. G., Azad A. F. Molecular identification of rickettsia-like microorganisms associated with colonized cat fleas (Ctenocephalides felis). Insect Mol Biol. 1994 Feb;3(1):27–33. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2583.1994.tb00147.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. La Scola B., Raoult D. Laboratory diagnosis of rickettsioses: current approaches to diagnosis of old and new rickettsial diseases. J Clin Microbiol. 1997 Nov;35(11):2715–2727. doi: 10.1128/jcm.35.11.2715-2727.1997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. McDade J. E., Newhouse V. F. Natural history of Rickettsia rickettsii. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1986;40:287–309. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.40.100186.001443. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. McDade J. E., Shepard C. C., Redus M. A., Newhouse V. F., Smith J. D. Evidence of Rickettsia prowazekii infections in the United States. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1980 Mar;29(2):277–284. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1980.29.277. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Munderloh U. G., Kurtti T. J. Cellular and molecular interrelationships between ticks and prokaryotic tick-borne pathogens. Annu Rev Entomol. 1995;40:221–243. doi: 10.1146/annurev.en.40.010195.001253. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Niebylski M. L., Schrumpf M. E., Burgdorfer W., Fischer E. R., Gage K. L., Schwan T. G. Rickettsia peacockii sp. nov., a new species infecting wood ticks, Dermacentor andersoni, in western Montana. Int J Syst Bacteriol. 1997 Apr;47(2):446–452. doi: 10.1099/00207713-47-2-446. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Pancholi P., Kolbert C. P., Mitchell P. D., Reed K. D., Jr, Dumler J. S., Bakken J. S., Telford S. R., 3rd, Persing D. H. Ixodes dammini as a potential vector of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis. J Infect Dis. 1995 Oct;172(4):1007–1012. doi: 10.1093/infdis/172.4.1007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Raoult D., Roux V., Ndihokubwayo J. B., Bise G., Baudon D., Marte G., Birtles R. Jail fever (epidemic typhus) outbreak in Burundi. Emerg Infect Dis. 1997 Jul-Sep;3(3):357–360. doi: 10.3201/eid0303.970313. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Schriefer M. E., Sacci J. B., Jr, Dumler J. S., Bullen M. G., Azad A. F. Identification of a novel rickettsial infection in a patient diagnosed with murine typhus. J Clin Microbiol. 1994 Apr;32(4):949–954. doi: 10.1128/jcm.32.4.949-954.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Schriefer M. E., Sacci J. B., Jr, Taylor J. P., Higgins J. A., Azad A. F. Murine typhus: updated roles of multiple urban components and a second typhuslike rickettsia. J Med Entomol. 1994 Sep;31(5):681–685. doi: 10.1093/jmedent/31.5.681. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Sorvillo F. J., Gondo B., Emmons R., Ryan P., Waterman S. H., Tilzer A., Andersen E. M., Murray R. A., Barr R. A suburban focus of endemic typhus in Los Angeles County: association with seropositive domestic cats and opossums. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1993 Feb;48(2):269–273. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1993.48.269. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Traub R., Wisseman C. L. The ecology of murine typhus-a critical review. Trop Dis Bull. 1978 Apr;75(4):237–317. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Vaughan J. A., Azad A. F. Acquisition of murine typhus rickettsiae by fleas. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1990;590:70–75. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1990.tb42209.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Walker D. H., Barbour A. G., Oliver J. H., Lane R. S., Dumler J. S., Dennis D. T., Persing D. H., Azad A. F., McSweegan E. Emerging bacterial zoonotic and vector-borne diseases. Ecological and epidemiological factors. JAMA. 1996 Feb 14;275(6):463–469. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Werren J. H., Hurst G. D., Zhang W., Breeuwer J. A., Stouthamer R., Majerus M. E. Rickettsial relative associated with male killing in the ladybird beetle (Adalia bipunctata). J Bacteriol. 1994 Jan;176(2):388–394. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.2.388-394.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Williams S. G., Sacci J. B., Jr, Schriefer M. E., Andersen E. M., Fujioka K. K., Sorvillo F. J., Barr A. R., Azad A. F. Typhus and typhuslike rickettsiae associated with opossums and their fleas in Los Angeles County, California. J Clin Microbiol. 1992 Jul;30(7):1758–1762. doi: 10.1128/jcm.30.7.1758-1762.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Emerging Infectious Diseases are provided here courtesy of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

RESOURCES