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Prevalence of Antibodies Against Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in a Rural Area of Colombia

We recently rediscovered Rocky Mountain spotted fever in Villeta, Colombia, near the same locality (Tobia) where it was first recognized in 1937. To have a better idea of the magnitude of this problem, sera from 392 randomly recruited healthy adults from Villeta were analyzed by indirect immunofluorescent antibody assay to detect IgG against Rickettsia rickettsii as antigen. The seropositivity rate for spotted fever group rickettsiae was 40.3%. We did not find any association between the presence of antibodies to spotted fever group rickettsiae and several demographic and epidemiologic variables, which could be a reflection of unique features of this area.

Received March 15, 2007. Accepted for publication May 14, 2007.

Financial support: This research was supported by Grant 1204-04-16332 from Instituto Colombiano para el Desarrollo de la Ciencia y la Tecnología Francisco José de Caldas, Colciencias to G.Valbuena.

Disclaimer: We do not have conflicts of interest related to this article.

^* Address correspondence to Gustavo Valbuena, Department of Pathology, the University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609. E-mail: gvalbuen{at}utmb.edu

Authors’ addresses: Marylin Hidalgo, Instituto Nacional de Salud, Grupo de Microbiología, AV Cll 26 No. 51-60, Bogotá, Colombia, Telephone: 57-1-2207700-446, E-mail: mhidalgo{at}ins.gov.co. Ricardo Sánchez, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Facultad de Medicina, Ciudad Universitaria, Cra 30 No 45-03 Facultad de Medicina, Edificio 471 Oficina 202 Bogotá, Colombia, Telephone: 57-1-3165000-15117, E-mail: rsanchez{at}unal.edu.co. Leonora Orejuela, Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, Telephone: 409-747-2464, Fax: 409-747-0762, E-mail: leorejue{at}utmb.edu. Jorge Hernández, Hospital Salazar, Villeta Calle 1 No 7-56, Villeta, Cundinamarca, Colombia, Telephone: 57-1-844-4118, E-mail: jhernandezvilleta{at}gmail.com. David H. Walker, Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, Telephone: 409-772-3989, E-mail: dwalker{at}utmb.edu. Gustavo Valbuena, Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, Telephone: 409-747-0763, Fax: 409-747-2429, E-mail: gvalbuen{at}utmb.edu.

Reprints requests: Gustavo Valbuena, Department of Pathology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, 301 University Boulevard, Galveston, TX 77555-0609.