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Start free with EleplanRocky Mountain spotted fever
ORPHA:83311Disease
What it is
A rare, acquired, life-threatening, infectious disease due to the tick-borne bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii characterized by an acute onset of fever, malaise, and severe headache, variably accompanied by myalgia, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and photophobia, associating (2-5 days after fever onset) a typically erythematous, blanching or non-blanching, maculopapluar rash with petechiae, starting on the wrists and ankles and progressing centrifugally to the palms and soles and centripetally to the arms, legs and trunk. Additonal variable features may include conjunctivitis, mucosal ulcers, post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, jaundice, pneumonia, hepatomegaly, renal failure, meningismus, amnesia, optic disc edema, and ocular arterial occlusion.
Key facts
- Prevalence
- 1-9 / 1 000 000 (annual incidence, United States)
- Age of onset
- All ages
- Inheritance
- Not applicable
- Classified as
- Disease
Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.
ICD-10 codes
Related health topics
Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.
Cross-references
Orphadata Science: Free access data from Orphanet. © INSERM 1999. Data version 2026-06-23. Available under CC BY 4.0. This is a reference, not medical advice.
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