Rickettsial pox or the risks of hunting

Two Italian patients are described who, back from a journey to South Africa countryside, presented with a 'tache-noire'-like lesion on their upper arms and a seropapular varicella-like rash. Weil-Felix reaction was negative. History, the peculiar clinical features and the prompt response to tetracycline therapy allow the diagnosis of rickettsial-pox to be made even in the absence of the specific tests of complement fixation.