South African tick-bite fever is a disease passed to humans by
ticks that are infected with an organism called Rickettsia africae.These ticks, known as buffalo ticks, usually live on cattle in
southern Africa.
Symptoms usually begin within 8 days after the tick bite and may
last for 1 to 15 days. Symptoms may include:
- Fever and chills.
- Multiple
ulcerlike or crusty skin sores.
- Swelling in the area of the skin
sores.
- Generalized swollen glands.
Unlike some tick-borne diseases, South African tick-bite fever does
not cause a rash.
A person who has South African tick-bite fever is treated with
antibiotics (usually doxycycline).
