Rickettsial
noun, plural rickettsiae
[ri-ket-see-ee] /rɪˈkɛt siˌi/ (Show IPA), rickettsias
[ri-ket-see-uh z] /rɪˈkɛt si əz/ (Show IPA)
1.
any member of the genus Rickettsia, comprising rod-shaped to coccoid microorganisms that resemble bacteria but can be as small as a large virus and reproduce only inside a living cell, parasitic in fleas, ticks, lice, and mites and transmitted by bite to vertebrate hosts, including humans, causing such severe diseases as typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
2.
any rickettsia or rickettsialike microorganism of the orders Rickettsiales and Chlamydiales.
noun (pl) -siae (-sɪˌiː), -sias
1.
any of a group of parasitic bacteria that live in the tissues of ticks, mites, and other arthropods, and cause disease when transmitted to man and other animals
rickettsial rick·ett·si·al (rĭ-kět’sē-əl)
adj.
Relating to, or caused by a member of the genus, Rickettsia.
Rickettsia Rick·ett·si·a (rĭ-kět’sē-ə)
n.
A genus of gram-negative bacteria that are carried as parasites by many ticks, fleas, and lice and cause diseases such as typhus, scrub typhus, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Read Also:
- Rickettsial disease
noun 1. any of several acute infectious diseases caused by ticks, mites, or body lice infected with rickettsiae. The main types include typhus, spotted fever, Q fever, trench fever, and tsutsugamushi disease
- Rickettsialpox
rickettsialpox rick·ett·si·al·pox (rĭ-kět’sē-əl-pŏks’) n. An acute nonfatal disease caused by Rickettsia akari and transmitted by mites; it is characterized by a papule in the skin and symptoms that develop about a week after the appearance of the papule, consisting of fever, chills, headache, backache, sweating, and local adenitis. Also called Kew garden fever.
- Rickettsia prowazekii
Rickettsia prowazekii Rickettsia pro·wa·zek·i·i (prō’və-zěk’ē-ī’) n. A bacterium that causes epidemic typhus fever.
- Rickettsia rickettsii
Rickettsia rickettsii Rickettsia rick·ett·si·i (rĭ-kět’sē-ī’) n. A bacterium that causes a variety of spotted fevers throughout the world including Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
- Rickettsia tsutsugamushi
Rickettsia tsutsugamushi Rickettsia tsu·tsu·ga·mu·shi (tsōō’tsə-gə-mōō’shē) n. A bacterium that causes scrub typhus.