Ehrlichia ruminantium
Heartwater (also known as cowdriosis, nintas, and ehrlichiosis) is a tick-borne rickettsial disease. The name is derived from the fact that fluid can collect around the heart or in the lungs of infected animals. It is caused by Ehrlichia ruminantium (formerly Cowdria ruminantium)—an intracellular Gram-negative coccal bacterium (also referred to as Rickettsia ruminantium). The disease is spread by various Amblyomma ticks, and has a large economic impact on cattle production in affected areas. There are four documented manifestations of the disease. These are acute, peracute, subacute, and a mild form known as heartwater fever. There are reports of zoonotic infections of humans by E. ruminantium, similar to other Ehrlichia species, such as those that cause human ehrlichiosis.
From the article Ehrlichia ruminantium on Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
The disease is common in sub-Saharan Africa, but can ultimately be found wherever Amblyomma ticks are present. Major areas of concern for the disease also include Madagascar, Mauritius, Zanzibar, the Comoros Islands, and Sao Tomé. Heartwater has been observed on three of the Caribbean islands, Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, and Antigua. In the Caribbean, at least, the cattle egret has been implicated in the spread of heartwater, since it colonized the islands in the 1950s.
Wikipedia: “Distribution”
In human culture
Heartwater disease was first described in 1838 within the personal journal of Louis Trichardt, a Voortrekker in South Africa. In Trichardt's notes, he recorded that a majority of the surrounding sheep died approximately three weeks after a large tick infestation was observed. In an 1877 testimony to the Cape of Good Hope Commission on Diseases of Sheep and Goats, livestock producer J. Webb testified that the appearance of ticks on his farm 8 or 9 years earlier corresponded with an onset of fatal disease in his livestock. Webb reported opening the chest of the victims and discovering the "heart bag" to be full of "water." Heartwater first reached the Caribbean islands in 1980.
Wikipedia: “History”
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ehrlichia ruminantium in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 971963.