Risk factors for African tick-bite fever in rural central Africa.

African tick-bite fever is an emerging infectious disease caused by the spotted fever group Rickettsia, Rickettsia africae, and is transmitted by ticks of the genus Amblyomma. To determine the seroprevalence of exposure to R. africae and risk factors associated with infection, we conducted a cross-sectional study of persons in seven rural villages in distinct ecological habitats of Cameroon.