Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTN

Query: NC_017044:702483 Rickettsia parkeri str. Portsmouth chromosome, complete genome

Lineage: Rickettsia parkeri; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: Animal pathogen in Mammalia (intracellular obligate). Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria mostly found in arthropods, some of which cause mild to severe diseases in humans. Rickettsia parkeri, a member of the spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR), was first isolated from the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, in 1937. In 2004, the first confirmed human infection with R. parkeri was reported in a 40-year-old man from the Tidewater area of coastal Virginia. The agent was isolated in cell culture from an eschar biopsy specimen and designated the Portsmouth strain; recently, the first recognized case of tick bite-associated human infection was described.

Subject: NC_010793:1287877 Orientia tsutsugamushi str. Ikeda, complete genome

Lineage: Orientia tsutsugamushi; Orientia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: This organism is the causative agent of scrub typhus, and like other members of the Rickettsiales is an obligate intracellular organism. Scrub typhus, which occurs in rural and agricultural areas, is one of the most common infectious diseases in southeast Asia where an estimated 1 million cases occur each year. Many cases are mild, but if left untreated, a variety of serious illnesses can arise and fatality rates can range from 1-35%. Transmission occurs via an insect vector through the bite of the larval trombiculid mite (chiggers). The bacterium is transmitted transovarially in mites (from females to their offspring).