The following background data on spotted fever in Brazil are abstracted from the Gideon e-book series. [1,2] (Primary references are available on request)

Time and Place:
Rickettsial spotted fever is known locally as Brazilian spotted fever, Sao Paulo fever and Febre maculosa brasileira.
- Rickettsial spotted fever was first reported in Brazil in 1920.
- Cases are reported in Minas Gerais, Bahia, Goias, Rio Grande do Sul and Espirito Santo.
- The disease has re-emerged in Rio de Janeiro in recent years.

Disease incidence and rates per 100,000 are depicted in the following graph. Between 6 and 27 fatal cases per year were registered during 2007 to 2010.

Geographical notes:
Outbreaks were reported in Minas Gerais during 1929 to 1944, but not during 1945 to 1980.
- Subsequent outbreaks were reported in Minas Gerais in 1981, 1984, 1992, 1995 and 2000.
- 92 cases (40% fatal) were confirmed in Minas Gerais during 1981 to 1989; 78 during 1992 to 1997 (including 3 fatal cases in 1996, and 2 in 1997).
67 cases were reported in Sao Paulo during 1985 to 2000; 224 (including 6 case-clusters) during 2001 to 2008 5 ; 5,949 suspected cases (206 confirmed) during 2003 to 2006.
- 17 cases (8 fatal) were reported in Pedreira county, Sao Paulo during 1985 to 1995.
- Five fatal cases were reported in Sao Paulo State in 2003.
- Eight outbreaks were reported in Sao Paulo State during 2005.
- A case of eschar-associated spotted fever rickettsiosis (species not determined) was reported in Bahia in 2007.

Prevalence surveys:
1.3% of Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks in metropolitan Sao Paulo are infected by Rickettsia rickettsii (2009 publication)
1.3% of Amblyomma cajennense in Minas Gerais (1997 publication)
Rickettsia parkeri was identified in 9.7% of Amblyomma triste (a non-human biting tick) in Pauliceia County, Sao Paulo (2005).

Seroprevalence surveys:
10.6% of healthy students and 4.11% of dogs in the endemic areas of Minas Gerais (1998)
38.4% of humans, 7.6% of dogs and 25.9% of horses (Espirito Santo, Rickettsia spp., 2010 publication)
77.3% of horses and 31.3% of dogs in Pedreira Municipality, Sao Paulo State (2001)
1.6% of healthy persons in Minas Gerais (2005 publication)
25.7% of dogs in southern Brazil (Rickettsia parkeri, 2002 to 2003)
69.6% of dogs in metropolitan Sao Paulo (2009 publication)
4.4% of dogs from Sao Jose dos Pinhais, Parana State (2006 to 2007)

Reservoirs:
- The principal reservoir hosts are capybara (Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris) , horses and occasionally dogs.
- Natural infection has been identified in dogs in Sao Paulo.
- R. parkeri antibodies have been documented in dogs from urban areas in the western Brazilian Amazon. (Monte Negro, Rondonia)

Vectors:
The principal vectors are Amblyomma aureolatum (areas of Sao Paulo) and Amblyomma cajennense.
- Amblyomma cooperi has also been implicated (in Sao Paulo).
- Spotted fever-group rickettsiae have been found in Rhipicephalus sanguineus in Rio de Janeiro state.

Notable outbreaks:
1993 (publication year) – An outbreak (6 cases, 4 confirmed) was reported in Espirito Santo.
2004 (publication year) – An outbreak was reported in Campinas.
2004 – An outbreak (3 fatal cases) was reported in Maua (Grande Sao Paulo).
2005 – An outbreak (7 cases, 2 fatal) was reported in a mountain resort near Rio de Janeiro.
2008 – An outbreak (3 fatal cases) was reported in Sao Paulo State.

References:
1. Berger SA. Infectious Diseases of Brazil, 2011. 530 pp. Gideon e-book series, http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/country/infectious-diseases-of-brazil/
2. Berger SA. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: Global Status, 2011. 18 pp. Gideon e-book series, http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/disease/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-global-status/

Regarding recent TBE activity in Altai and Omsk, a total of 26 human zoonoses are transmitted by ticks. Thirteen of these occur in Russia: [1]

Anaplasmosis
Astrakhan fever
Babesiosis
Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
Japanese spotted fever
Lyme disease
North Asian tick typhus
Omsk hemorrhagic fever
Powassan
Relapsing fever
Rickettsial Spotted fevers (ie, Rickettsia slovaca infection)
Tick-borne encephalitis
Tularemia

References:
1. Berger SA. Infectious Diseases of the Russian Federation. 2010, Gideon e-book series, 461 pp. http://www.gideononline.com/ebooks/country/infectious-diseases-of-the-russian-federation/

Regarding reports of a fatal case in Minnesota, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) was the most common cause of arthropod-associated death in the United States for many years; but this “distinction” is now held by West Nile fever.

A variety of spotted fever group Rickettsiae are reported in Spain.

The incidence of Mediterranean spotted fever cases has decreased in recent years, from 870 cases in 1989, to 234 in 2003. 77.76% of cases are reported from Andalucia, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla y Leon and Cataluna, with most occurring during July through October. 38 fatal cases were reported during 1980 to 1994.

Seroprevalence surveys:
8% of healthy persons and 26.1% of dogs in Catalonia – highest rates in seimrural areas (1997)
8.7% of persons in southern Spain (2002)
3.4% of persons in southern Spain (Bar29 infection, 2006 publication)
3.7% of persons in Catalonia (Rickettsia slovaka, 2008 publication)
56.4% of dogs in northeastern Spain (2006 publication)
24.6% of dogs in Ourense and Pontevedra (northwestern Spain, 2008 publication)
44% of cats in northeastern Spain (2006 publication)

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Rickettsial spotted fever was first reported in Brazil in 1920.

The disease is known locally as ‘Brazilian spotted fever’ and ‘Febre maculosa brasileira’

Cases are reported in Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Goias, Rio Grande do Sul and Espirito Santo.

Seroprevalence surveys:
10.6% of healthy students and 4.11% of dogs in the endemic areas of Minas Gerais (1998)
77.3% of horses and 31.3% of dogs in Pedreira Municipality, Sao Paulo State (2001)
1.6% of healthy persons in Minas Gerais (2005 publication)
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