Query: NC_012633:928500 Rickettsia africae ESF-5, complete genome Lineage: Rickettsia africae; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: This organism was isolated from a cattle tick, Amblyomma variegatum, collected in Ethiopia. This organism, a member of the spotted fever group of the Rickettsiales, is found in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Rickettsia africae causes a flu-like illness, characterized by a mild fever and severe headache, without the skin rash common to other spotted fever group Rickettsia species. Members of this genus, like other Rickettsial organisms such as Neorickettsia and Anaplasma, are obligate intracellular pathogens. In both groups, the bacteria are transmitted via an insect, usually a tick, to a host organism where they target endothelial cells and sometimes macrophages. They attach via an adhesin, rickettsial outer membrane protein A, and are internalized where they persist as cytoplasmically free organisms.
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General Information: This strain was isolated from a man with severe proctitis. This species causes infection that leads to blindness and sexually transmitted diseases in humans. There are 15 serovariants that preferentially cause disease in either the eye or the urogenital tract. The trachoma (infection of the mucous membrane of the eyelids) biovars are noninvasive and can cause blinding trachoma (variants A, B, Ba, and C), or sexually transmitted diseases (variants, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, and K). The lymphogranuloma venereum biovars (variants L1, L2, and L3) can cross the epithelial cells of mucous membranes and then travel through the lymphatic system where they multiply within mononuclear phagocytes found within the lymph nodes. Bacteria belonging to the Chlamydiales group are obligate intracellular parasites of eukaryotic cells. They are found within vertebrates, invertebrate cells, and amoebae hosts. Chlamydiae are one of the commonest causes of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and if left untreated may cause infertility in women. They are transmitted by direct contact or aerosols, and can cause various diseases, while also being able to coexist with the host in an apparently asymptomatic state. This species causes infection that leads to blindness and sexually transmitted diseases in humans.