%0 Journal Article %A KELLY, PATRICK J. %A BEATI, LORENZA %A MASON, PETER R. %A MATTHEWMAN, LINDA A. %A ROUX, VÉRONIQUE %A RAOULT, DIDIER %T Rickettsia africae sp. nov., the Etiological Agent of African Tick Bite Fever %D 1996 %J International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology, %V 46 %N 2 %P 611-614 %@ 1466-5034 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/00207713-46-2-611 %I Microbiology Society, %X We propose the name Rickettsia africae sp. nov. (with type strain Z9-Hu) for a distinct species of spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae that is the etiological agent of African tick bite fever in humans. This rickettsia has a distinct natural cycle and can be phenotypically distinguished from the other SFG rickettsiae by microimmunofluorescence serotyping, by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and by Western blotting (immunoblotting). Genotypic differences between R. africae and the other SFG rickettsiae can be demonstrated by PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/ijsem/10.1099/00207713-46-2-611