Loving S M, Smith A B, DiSalvo A F, Burgdorfer W
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1978 Nov;27(6):1255-60. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1978.27.1255.
Live ticks removed from human hosts were tested for the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae from 1974 through 1976. Spotted fever group rickettsiae were detected in Dermacentor variabilis, Amblyomma americanum, Amblyomma maculatum, and Ixodes scapularis. Persons from whom positive ticks were removed in 1974 and 1975 were questioned about ensuing illness. Eleven of 51 persons from whom rickettsia-positive D. variabilis were removed reported some unexplained combination of symptoms compatible with Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Persons with positive ticks other than D. variabilis reported no illness in the 2 weeks following exposure. D. variabilis from the Coastal Plain of South Carolina have a higher percentage of infection than those from the Piedmont region. Conversely, most reported human cases of spotted fever are from the Piedmont.
1974年至1976年期间，对从人类宿主身上采集的活蜱进行了斑点热群立克次体检测。在变异革蜱、美洲钝眼蜱、斑点钝眼蜱和肩突硬蜱中检测到了斑点热群立克次体。对1974年和1975年身上采集到阳性蜱的人询问了随后的疾病情况。从51名身上采集到立克次体阳性变异革蜱的人中，有11人报告出现了一些与落基山斑点热相符的无法解释的症状组合。身上采集到除变异革蜱外其他阳性蜱的人在接触后2周内未报告患病。南卡罗来纳州沿海平原的变异革蜱感染率高于皮埃蒙特地区的。相反，报告的大多数人类斑点热病例来自皮埃蒙特地区。
