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Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a dreaded zoonotic bacterial infection highly prevalent among domestic animals and humans in different parts of North, Central and South America.
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Identified in the year 1896, this fatal disease is also identified with several other names including black measles, tick typhus, Tobia fever, Sao Paulo fever and fiebre manchada.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever is caused due to presence of Rickettsia rickettsii, a distinctive species of intracellular bacterial parasite that is spread to humans and dogs due to tick bites. Ticks are the natural hosts of this bacterium and also serve as reservoirs and vectors. Occurrence of this disease is highly common between spring and summer, an ideal season for the growth of ticks. The two most important ticks participating in the transmission of Rocky Mountain spotted fever include the American dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick.
The bacteria enter the blood circulation and begin to replicate and grow. These bacteria invade the vascular system and cause extensive damage to the internal vascular lining resulting in vascular inflammation, vascular cell death, swelling of the skin, hemorrhage, reduced blood pressure, cardiac arrest and death. These bacteria also inflammation in central nervous system such as brain and spinal cord resulting in the development of fatal neurological disorders such as paralysis. Other neurological disorders accompanying with this disease include vestibular deficits, nystagmus, tilted head, circling and incoordination. When the bacterium invades the pulmonary system, it damages the pulmonary vasculature inside the lungs causing inflammation, pneumonia, fluid accumulation, difficulty in breathing and excessive coughing. In extreme conditions, acute renal failure can occur due to increased vascular permeability.
Tetracycline is the most effective antibiotic available for the treatment of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Physicians also recommend Doxycycline and Chloramphenicol as alternative drugs.
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