AUTHOR=Montenegro Diego C. , Bitencourth Karla , de Oliveira Stefan V. , Borsoi Ana P. , Cardoso Karen M. , Sousa Maria S. B. , Giordano-Dias Cristina , Amorim Marinete , Serra-Freire Nicolau M. , GazĂȘta Gilberto S. , Brazil Reginaldo P. TITLE=Spotted Fever: Epidemiology and Vector-Rickettsia-Host Relationship in Rio de Janeiro State JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology VOLUME=8 YEAR=2017 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2017.00505 DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2017.00505 ISSN=1664-302X ABSTRACT=
The eco-epidemiological scenario of spotted fever (SF), a tick-borne disease that affects humans and other animals in several countries around the world, was analyzed in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) State, Brazil. During the last 34 years, 990 SF cases were reported in RJ (the Brazilian state with the highest population density), including 116 cases confirmed by serology (RIFI) or PCR, among 42.39% of the municipalities with reported cases of SF. The epidemiologic dynamics of SF in RJ State are very heterogeneous in time and space, with outbreaks, high mortality rates and periods of epidemiological silence (no SF cases reported). Furthermore, it exhibited a changing epidemiological profile from being rural to becoming an urban disease. This study identified arthropods infected with