Rickettsia felis: The Complex Journey of an Emergent Human Pathogen
Résumé
Rickettsia felis is an obligate intracellular bacterium that is ă different from other officially recognized rickettsial species. It has ă multiple genes of different origins, an incubation temperature of less ă than 32 degrees C, and a conjugative plasmid. This Rickettsia is ă commonly detected in febrile patients in sub-Saharan Africa. R. fells is ă frequently detected in cat fleas, but recently mosquitoes have been ă suspected to be able to transmit the bacterium. However, many aspects of ă the ecology and epidemiology of R. fells are not completely understood ă and remain to be uncovered. We aim here to give an update of the current ă knowledge about this fascinating organism.