New Foci of Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae Including Rickettsia honei in Western Australia.

Adam Merritt,Stephen Graves,Toby Pearn,Ronan Murray,Andreas Marangou,John Dyer,Edward Raby

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed1010005

Adam Merritt, Stephen Graves + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/tropicalmed1010005

Copy DOI

Abstract

We describe the first reported case of spotted fever group rickettsiosis in Western Australia, and two cases of probable Rickettsia honei from a new geographic focus. These findings highlight the need to raise awareness of ricksettsial infection among local clinicians as well as those treating visitors to this region, important for outdoor recreation.

Highlights

Western Australia (WA) occupies the western third of Australia, covering an area of over two and a half million km2 ranging from the tropical north to the temperate south and with a large eastern desert region
Citrate synthase gene PCR specific for rickettsiae [10] was performed at the Australian Rickettsial Reference Laboratory (ARRL) on a biopsy taken from the edge of the eschar the day after the commencement of the doxycycline
Spotted fever group rickettsiosis is widespread on the eastern seaboard of Australia, manifesting as either Queensland tick typhus or Flinders Island spotted fever

Summary

Introduction

Western Australia (WA) occupies the western third of Australia, covering an area of over two and a half million km ranging from the tropical north to the temperate south and with a large eastern desert region. Flea-borne endemic (murine) typhus due to Rickettsia typhi has been recognised in WA since the early 20th century with up to 140 cases a year notified in the period after the First World War [1], with isolated cases and small clusters reported more recently [2]. A focus of scrub typhus due to mite-borne Orientia tsutsugamushi is found in the tropical north of the state [3]. Prior to this report, no human cases of SFG rickettsiosis have been confirmed in WA

Case A

Case B

Case C

Discussion