We describe the first case of Japanese spotted fever and the first isolate of spotted fever group rickettsia from a patient in South Korea. The isolated rickettsia from the patient was identified as Rickettsia japonica by analysis of the nucleotide sequences of 16S rRNA, gltA, ompA, ompB, and sca4 genes.

A focal outbreak of highly fatal disease occurred in eastern Costa Rica in 1974. No rickettsial spotted fevers have previously been reported in Costa Rica. Nevertheless, the available evidence points to an unidentified rickettsial pathogen, probably of the spotted fever group, as the agent responsible for this outbreak.

We report a case of Rickettsia honei infection in a human in Nepal. The patient had severe illness and many clinical features typical of Flinders Island spotted fever. Diagnosis was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescent assay with serum and molecular biological techniques. Flinders Island spotted fever may be an endemic rickettsiosis in Nepal.

The spotted fever group of Rickettsia consists of multiple species anging from microorganisms with unknown pathogenicity such s “Candidatus Rickettsia amblyommii” (hereafter R. amblyommii) o potentially lethal pathogens such as R. rickettsii, the causative gent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in humans. Rickttsia amblyommii is found mainly in ticks belonging to Amblyomma enus, and report...

Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is a tick-borne disease caused by the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii. Although RMSF was first reported in Colombia in 1937, it remains a neglected disease. Herein, we describe the investigation of a large cluster of cases of spotted fever rickettsiosis in a new area of Colombia.

Only 4 species of spotted fever group rickettsiae have been detected in humans in China. However, phylogenetic analysis of samples from 5 ill patients in China indicated infection with a novel spotted fever group Rickettsia, designated Rickettsia sp. XY99. Clinical signs resembled those of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Secondary sexual characters often signal qualities such as physiological processes associated with resistance to various sources of stress. When the expression of an ornament is not sex-limited, we can identify the costs and benefits of displaying a trait that is typical of its own sex or of the other sex. Indeed, the magnitude and sign of the covariation between physiology and the extent to wh...

In California, research on the distribution and numbers of Northern Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) began in the early 1970’s (Gould 1977). Early indications that the owl population could be declining in California received little attention until the early 1980’s when focused ecological research on the owl began in northwestern California (Gutiitrrez et al. 1984). Debate over trends i...

Although examples are rare, conflicts between species of conservation concern can result from habitat restoration that modifies habitat to benefit a single taxon. A forest restoration program designed to enhance habitat for endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers (Picoides borealis) may be reducing available habitat for the eastern spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius), a forest-adapted sympatric spec...