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Rickettsia prowazekii is a species of gram-negative, alphaproteobacteria, obligate intracellular parasitic, aerobic bacillus bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, transmitted in the feces of lice. In North America, the main reservoir for R. prowazekii is the flying squirrel.
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. [1] Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. [1]
A second method of growing Rickettsia prowazekii was discovered using the yolk sac of chick embryos. Germans tried several times to use this technique of growing Rickettsia prowazekii but no effort was pushed very far. [38] The last technique was an extended development of the previously known method of growing murine typhus in rodents. [38]
Apart from humans, flying squirrels are the only currently known reservoir for Rickettsia prowazekii. [3] See also. Brill–Zinsser disease; List of cutaneous conditions;
However, scrub typhus is still considered a rickettsiosis, even though the causative organism has been reclassified from Rickettsia tsutsugamushi to Orientia tsutsugamushi. [ citation needed ] Examples of rickettsioses include typhus , both endemic and epidemic, Rocky Mountain spotted fever , and Rickettsialpox .
Rickettsia typhi is a small, aerobic, obligate intracellular, rod shaped gram negative bacterium. [1] It belongs to the typhus group of the Rickettsia genus, along with R. prowazekii. [2] R. typhi has an uncertain history, as it may have long gone shadowed by epidemic typhus (R. prowazekii). [3]
Brill–Zinsser disease is a delayed relapse of epidemic typhus, caused by Rickettsia prowazekii.After a patient contracts epidemic typhus from the fecal matter of an infected louse (Pediculus humanus), the rickettsia can remain latent and reactivate months or years later, with symptoms similar to or even identical to the original attack of typhus, including a maculopapular rash.
Unlike other species of lice, body lice can act as vectors of disease. The most important pathogens which are transmitted by them are Rickettsia prowazekii (causes epidemic typhus), Borrelia recurrentis (causes relapsing fever), and Bartonella quintana (causes trench fever).