Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
1991-10-8
pubmed:abstractText
Rickettsial diseases have a diversity of epidemiologic characteristics reflective of the variety of ecologic situations in which the obligate intracellular bacteria are transmitted to humans. For the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae, Rickettsia typhi, R. tsutsugamushi, Coxiella burnetii, and the human ehrlichial agent, humans are a dead-end host who plays no role in the maintenance of the organism in nature. All rickettsioses exist as zoonoses. Moreover, all rickettsiae are found in infected arthopods, which generally serve as the natural hosts and can transmit the infection to the next generation of ticks, mites, chiggers, or fleas. From our anthropocentric viewpoint, Q fever aerosol infection from parturient animals and Brill-Zinsser disease ignited epidemics of louse-borne epidemic typhus are exceptions. However, silent cycles of C. burnetii in ticks and R. prowazekii in the flying squirrel flea may have maintained these agents in transovarial or enzootic cycles for eons before humans and their domestic animals arrived on the scene. Thus, the epidemiology of rickettsial diseases must be recognized as an unfortunate aberration of the rickettsial economy. Several excellent reviews of rickettsial ecology contain a wealth of useful information.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
May
pubmed:issn
0393-2990
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
7
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
237-45
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1991
pubmed:articleTitle
Epidemiology of rickettsial diseases.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Pathology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77550.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review