- Rickettsialpox
- A mild infectious disease first observed in New York City caused by Rickettsia akari, transmitted from its mouse host by chigger or adult mite bites. There is fever, a dark spot that becomes a small ulcer at the site of the bite, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy) in that region, and a raised blistery (vesicular) rash. Also known as vesicular rickettsiosis.
* * *Infection with Rickettsia akari, which is spread by mites from reservoir in house mice; a benign, self-limited process first recognized in 1946 in the Kew Gardens area of New York City; a few limited outbreaks have been observed elsewhere since then. SYN: Kew Gardens fever, mite-born typhus, vesicular rickettsiosis.
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rick·ett·si·al·pox ri-.ket-sē-əl-'päks n a disease characterized by fever, chills, headache, backache, and a spotty rash and caused by a bacterium of the genus Rickettsia (R. akari) transmitted to humans by the bite of a mite of the genus Allodermanyssus (A. sanguineus) living on rodents (as the house mouse)* * *
rick·ett·si·al·pox (rĭ-ketґse-əl-poks″) a mild self-limited febrile disease caused by Rickettsia akari, transmitted to humans by the mite Liponyssoides sanguineus, an ectoparasite of the house mouse. Characteristics include an escharlike primary cutaneous lesion, generalized papulovesicular rash, headache, and backache. Called also Kew Gardens spotted fever.
Medical dictionary. 2011.