Avoiding misdiagnosis of malaria: a novel automated method allows specific diagnosis, even in the absence of clinical suspicion.

icterus developed, and the patient died of shock and multiorgan failure 9 hours after hospitalization, despite treatment with a mixture of antibiotics, which contained doxycycline. Rickettsiae of the spotted fever group were isolated by the shell vial technique from the blood of the three patients. Sequences of polymerase chain reaction-amplified fragments of 16SrRNA (1440 bp), citrate synthase (382 bp), and rompA (590 bp) genes of the isolates show 100% similarity with the homologous sequence of Israeli spotted fever rickettsia (4,7,8). All three patients lived in semirural areas, along the River Tejo (Setubal District). None had left Portugal during the previous year. Although none had a tache noire, contact with ticks cannot be excluded. The absence of tache noire is typical in Israeli spotted fever (6). These findings indicate that the geographic distribution of Israeli spotted fever is wider than had been thought and includes the Iberian Peninsula. Because initial signs and symptoms of the disease are particularly uncharacteristic and appropriate treatment may be delayed, this rickettsia can cause life-threatening disease.