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Research Article |

Molecular Diagnosis of Rickettsia aeschlimannii in Febrile Patients in Côte d’Ivoire

R aeschlimannii is a bacterium that causes Mediterranean spotted fever. It is a rickettsial disease, which is an acute febrile illness characterized by the appearance of skin pimples and bedsores. R. aeschlimannii is mainly transmitted by ticks of the genus Hyalomma, which are present throughout the African continent, including Côte d’Ivoire. Despite the presence of the pathogen and its potential vectors in Côte d'Ivoire, the disease is not yet well-known or even undiagnosed in our health centers. Consequently, it is a neglected disease. The aim of this study is to search for R. aeschlimannii bacteria in febrile patients in order to improve the management of febrile illnesses in Côte d’Ivoire. Blood samples taken from patients to test for yellow fever virus and stored in the Institut Pasteur of Côte d’Ivoire biobank were also used to test for R. aeschlimannii by quantitative PCR. The 5 to 14-year-olds patients from Korhogo were infested with R. aeschlimannii with a relatively low prevalence of 9.10%. Our results underline the need to continue the study to control certain tick-borne diseases transmitted to both animals and humans. In the north of the country, the age group most vulnerable to Mediterranean spotted fever is the pre-adolescent age.

Rickettsia aeschlimannii, Mediterranean Spotted Fever, Ticks, Febrile Patients, Côte d’Ivoire

Fidèle N’guessan Diobo, Amenan Claude Aimée Kouamé Diaha, Yahaya Sylla, Grace Rebecca Bogni, Valery Edgard Adjogoua, et al. (2023). Molecular Diagnosis of Rickettsia aeschlimannii in Febrile Patients in Côte d’Ivoire. American Journal of BioScience, 11(6), 137-141. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajbio.20231106.11

Copyright © 2023 Authors retain the copyright of this article.
This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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