A story of a lone star tick: an imported case of Amblyomma americanum (Linnaeus, 1758) infected with Rickettsia amblyommatis that parasitized a US traveler returning to Mexico

ABSTRACT In this study, we report the presence of a female Amblyomma americanum tick attached to a former resident of the East Coast of the United States who moved to Mexico city. The amplification and sequencing of gene fragments of the 16S-rDNA and cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 corroborated the identification of the species of the tick. Additionally, the presence of DNA of Rickettsia amblyommatis was confirmed. This work is the first report of an exotic tick of the genus Amblyomma in a traveler from the US to Mexico and represents the second record of an imported tick attached to humans in Mexico.

Primer registro de un caso de loxoscelismo cutáneo ocasionado por mordedura de araña violinista (Loxosceles yucatana) en Yucatán, México / First record of a case of cutaneous loxoscelism caused by violin spider (Loxosceles yucatana) bite in Yucatan, Mexico

El loxoscelismo es ocasionado cuando el veneno dermonecrótico producido por las arañas del género Loxosceles, conocidas como «arañas violinistas», ingresa al organismo de una persona a través de su mordida. En México ocurre un subregistro de los casos de loxoscelismo por la ausencia de pruebas de laboratorio para su diagnóstico y la dificultad del cuadro clínico. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir un caso de loxoscelismo cutáneo ocasionado por mordedura de Loxosceles yucatana en un residente de Yucatán, México. El loxoscelismo cutáneo es el tipo más frecuente y menos severo. El presente caso se diagnosticó por medio de la sintomatología registrada en la historia clínica, la lesión inicial y la identificación de arañas L. yucatana. Este trabajo representa la primera descripción de un caso de loxoscelismo cutáneo con resolución favorable en Yucatán.

Loxoscelism occurs when the dermonecrotic venom produced by spiders of the genus Loxosceles, known as "violin spiders," enters a person's organism through their bite. In Mexico there is an underreporting of loxoscelism cases due to the absence of laboratory tests for its diagnosis and the complexity of the clinical picture. The aim of this paper is to describe a case of cutaneous loxoscelism caused by the bite of Loxosceles yucatana in a resident of Yucatan, Mexico. Cutaneous loxoscelism is the most frequent and less severe type. This case was diagnosed by means of the symptomatology registered in the medical records, the initial lesion, and the identification of L. yucatana spiders. This study represents the first description of a case of cutaneous loxoscelism with favorable outcome in Yucatan.