Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Book

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Rickettsia rickettsii)

Jessica Snowden  1 , Kari A. Simonsen  1
In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan.
.
Affiliations
Free Books & Documents
Book

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Rickettsia rickettsii)

Jessica Snowden et al.
Free Books & Documents

Excerpt

Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is an acute febrile tick-borne illness caused by Rickettsia rickettsii. It is the most severe and most common of the rickettsial infections in North America.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: Jessica Snowden declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

Disclosure: Kari Simonsen declares no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.

References

    1. Campos SDE, Nadal NV, Toma HK, Almeida AB, Cordeiro MD, Fonseca AHD, Figueiredo FB, Verícimo MA, Cunha NCD, Almosny NRP. Circulation of spotted fever group rickettsiae among dogs seropositive for Leishmania spp. in an urban area of Brazil. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop. 2019 Feb 21;52:e20180133. - PubMed
    1. Yaglom HD, Nicholson WL, Casal M, Nieto NC, Adams L. Serologic assessment for exposure to spotted fever group rickettsiae in dogs in the Arizona-Sonora border region. Zoonoses Public Health. 2018 Dec;65(8):984-992. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Machado IB, Bitencourth K, Cardoso KM, Oliveira SV, Santalucia M, Marques SFF, Amorim M, GazêTa GS. Diversity of rickettsiae and potential vectors of spotted fever in an area of epidemiological interest in the Cerrado biome, midwestern Brazil. Med Vet Entomol. 2018 Dec;32(4):481-489. - PubMed
    1. Kakumanu ML, Ponnusamy L, Sutton H, Meshnick SR, Nicholson WL, Apperson CS. Prevalence of Rickettsia Species (Rickettsiales: Rickettsiaceae) in Dermacentor variabilis Ticks (Acari: Ixodidae) in North Carolina. J Med Entomol. 2018 Aug 29;55(5):1284-1291. - PubMed
    1. Weck B, Dall'Agnol B, Souza U, Webster A, Stenzel B, Klafke G, Martins JR, Reck J. Rickettsia parkeri in Amblyomma dubitatum ticks in a spotted fever focus from the Brazilian Pampa. Acta Trop. 2017 Jul;171:182-185. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources