Antibodies against Rift Valley Fever Virus in Cattle, Mozambique

ompA: JF803906). All samples were cultured in human embryonic lung fibroblasts as described (6). After 4 weeks, no bacteria were isolated. We report a human case of R. eschlimannii infection in Crete, Greece. Our finding was confirmed by molecular methods. However, we were not able to cultivate R. aeschlimannii from samples collected. This result suggests that living microorganisms may have died before testing or that only DNA, but no living organism, was present in the samples. R. aeschlimannii was first isolated from Hyalomma marginatum ticks from Morocco (7). In Europe, R. aeschlimannii has also been found in ticks from Germany, Russia, Italy, France, Croatia, Portugal, and Spain (8). In Greece, R. aeschlimannii has been detected in H. anatolicum excavatum ticks collected from sheep (1). The tick removed from this patient was Rh. turanicus, a species that has been reported in Spain to be infected with R. aeschlimannii (9). The first human case of R. aeschlimannii infection was identified in a patient who had fever, rash, and an eschar after travel in Morocco (10). R. aeschlimannii infections in humans have been previously confirmed in South Africa, in Algeria, and in Tunisia (8). To our knowledge, human cases of R. aeschlimannii infection have not been reported in Europe. Our results emphasize that ticks should be considered as potential vectors for rickettsial infections in humans. We recommend that when one species or serotype of tick-transmitted Rickettsia is identified in an area, physicians be informed through established clinical or public health channels of the potential pathogen, its manifestations, and recommended treatments for humans.