What is "boutonneuse fever"

n. a disease (common in India and around the Mediterranean area) caused by a rickettsia that is transmitted to humans by a reddish brown tick (ixodid) that lives on dogs and other mammals [syn: Marseilles fever, Kenya fever, Indian tick fever]

Boutonneuse fever (also called Mediterranean spotted fever, fièvre boutonneuse, Kenya tick typhus, Indian tick typhus, Marseilles fever, or African tick-bite fever) is a fever as a result of a rickettsial infection caused by the bacterium Rickettsia conorii and transmitted by the dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Boutonneuse fever can be seen in many places around the world, although it is endemic in countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. This disease was first described in Tunisia in 1910 by Conor and Bruch and was named boutonneuse ( French for "spotty") due to its papular skin rash characteristics.