South African Tick Bite Fever: An Overview

John Frean; Wayne Grayson

doi:10.1159/000495475

South African Tick Bite Fever: An Overview

Dermatopathology (Basel). 2019 Jun 26;6(2):70-76. doi: 10.1159/000495475. eCollection 2019 Apr-Jun.

Authors

John Frean^{1

2}, Wayne Grayson^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Parasitology Reference Laboratory, Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, Johannesburg, South Africa.
² School of Pathology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
³ Ampath National Laboratories, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

The rickettsiae are a diverse group of vector-borne zoonotic bacterial pathogens. The two common spotted fever diseases in existence in southern Africa are boutonneuse fever-like tick bite fever (TBF), caused by Rickettsia conorii, and African TBF, caused by R. africae. This review addresses demographic, epidemiological, clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive aspects of TBF in the southern African context, including a discussion of the dermatopathological findings and potential diagnostic pitfalls.

Keywords: Rickettsia africae; Rickettsia conorii; South African tick bite fever.

Publication types

Review