Rickettsioses in Australia

The rickettsial diseases of Australia are described in their chronological order of discovery. The include epidemic typhus (R. prowazekii); murine typhus (R. typhi) found Australia-wide; scrub typhus (O. tsutsugamushi) only in tropical, northen Australia; Q fever (C. burnetii) found Australia-wide; Queensland tick typhus (R. australis) along the east coast of Australia; Flinders Island spotted fever (R. honei) in southeast Australia; Variant Flinders Island spotted fever (R. honei, strain marmionii) in eastern Australia; Rickettsia felis, Western Australia; eight new REG rickettsiae from ticks (of unknown pathogenicity); and two nonhuman pathogens in A. platys (dogs) and A. marginale (cattle).