First human case of Rickettsia sibirica mongolotimonae infection in Northern Greece in a teenager from Thrace.

We describe herein a male adolescent from Thrace, Northern Greece with clinical and serological evidence of infection due to this rickettsia species, who recovered uneventfully with appropriate therapy. The patient got infected in the island of Samothraki, the most northern island of the Aegean Sea, during a recent trip. Although R. sibirica mongolitimonae was neither cultivated nor was a PCR performed in a cutaneous specimen from the inoculation eschar, serological testing along with the typical clinical picture makes the diagnosis highly probable. Rickettsia sibirica mongolitimonae appears to be an emerging pathogen in both southern and northern Greece. Physicians caring for patients who have traveled to endemic areas should consider R. sibirica mongolitimonae in the differential diagnosis of any febrile illness associated with a maculopapular rash and an inoculation eschar. PMID: 27795477 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Japanese Journal of Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Jpn J Infect Dis Source Type: research