Abstract
Rickettsia rickettsii is etiologic agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. After being transmitted by the bite of an infected tick, the bacterium infects the endothelial cells of the vertebrate host, where it proliferates, causing vasculitis, which evolution is potentially fatal. In Brazil, the main vector of R. rickettsii is Amblyomma sculptum [a species of the Amblyomma cajennense comple…