Ehrlichiosis
The disease is caused by a rickettisia, called Ehrlichia canis. Dogs and man are the reservoir hosts. The infection is transmitted through bite of infected tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus. The clinical symptoms in man are fever, malaise, chills, headache, myalgia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and skin rashes. The infection can be diagnosed by isolation o f o r ga nisms o r b y se r o d ia gno si s e mp lo ying c o mp l e me nt fix a tio n te st o r immunofluorescence assay. Control and avoidance of ticks help to reduce the incidence of disease.