[Spotted fever after travel to South Africa]

Three patients developed fever, malaise and a typical maculopapular rash a few days after returning to Norway from South Africa. In South Africa they had been bitten by ticks several times while hunting. Two patients, with lesions compatible with eschar, were hospitalized, and a diagnosis of rickettsial spotted fever was established based on the clinical presentation and positive Rickettsia conorii serology. Rickettsial diseases are extremely rare in Scandinavia, and a survey on rickettsioses is presented in this paper.