Imported African Tick Bite Fever in Japan: A Literature Review and Report of Three Cases

Naokatsu Ando; Satoshi Kutsuna; Saho Takaya; Yuichi Katanami; Norio Ohmagari

doi:10.2169/internalmedicine.7109-21

Imported African Tick Bite Fever in Japan: A Literature Review and Report of Three Cases

Intern Med. 2022;61(7):1093-1098. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.7109-21. Epub 2022 Apr 1.

Authors

Naokatsu Ando^{1

2}, Satoshi Kutsuna², Saho Takaya², Yuichi Katanami², Norio Ohmagari²

Affiliations

¹ AIDS Clinical Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan.
² Disease Control and Prevention Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine, Japan.

Abstract

African tick bite fever (ATBF) is an acute febrile illness caused by Rickettsia africae. ATBF is an important differential diagnosis of acute febrile illness among returned travelers. However, little information is available on ATBF cases imported to Japan, as only seven have been reported to date. To characterize the epidemiological and clinical profiles of patients diagnosed with ATBF in Japan, we reported three new ATBF cases at our hospital between May 2015 and April 2018 and conducted a literature review.

Keywords: African tick bite fever; eschar; rickettsiosis; spotted fever group rickettsiosis.

Publication types

Case Reports
Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Japan / epidemiology
Rickettsia Infections* / diagnosis
Rickettsia Infections* / epidemiology
Rickettsia Infections* / microbiology
Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis* / diagnosis
Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis* / epidemiology
Tick-Borne Diseases* / diagnosis
Tick-Borne Diseases* / epidemiology
Tick-Borne Diseases* / microbiology
Travel