Spotted Fever Group <i>Rickettsia</i> spp. Molecular and Serological Evidence among Colombian Vectors and Animal Hosts: A Historical Review

Abstract

Spotted fever group Rickettsia spp. (SFGR) are a large group of tick-borne bacteria causing important emerging and re-emerging diseases that affect animals and humans. While SFGR are found worldwide, a lack of surveillance and misdiagnosis particularly affect South American countries. Colombia is a high burdened country in South America, yet rickettsioses are not deemed a nationally reportable condition limiting disease-specific public health resources. As mortality rates are high for one Rickettsia pathogen species, there is a great need to better understand the epidemiological and ecological factors that increase SFGR transmission risk regionally. This literature review provides an overview of Colombia-based SFGR studies connecting knowledge about both vectors and hosts.

Keywords

• spotted fever group rickettsia
• Colombia
• rickettsiosis
• tick-borne diseases
• one health