Human Infection with Ehrlichia canis, a Leukocytic Rickettsia

RICKETTSIA that are pathogenic for humans include five main antigenic groups that cause, respectively, typhus, spotted fever, scrub typhus, Q fever, and trench fever. 1 There is also a group of intraleukocytic parasites that infect humans and a variety of wild and domestic animals. These organisms constitute the genus ehrlichia of the family Rickettsiaceae. 2 The human pathogen in this genus, E. sennetsu , was isolated in Japan in 1954 from a patient with an infectious mononucleosis–like syndrome. 3 Sennetsu rickettsiosis was subsequently described in Japan and Malaysia. 4 We now report a human infection caused by E. canis . The clinical symptoms of . . .