Isolation and Characterization of Rickettsia finnyi, Novel Pathogenic Spotted Fever Group Rickettsia in Dogs, United States.

In 2020, a novel spotted fever group Rickettsia was described in 3 clinically ill dogs in the United States. Using naturally infected canine blood, the novel Rickettsia sp. was isolated in epithelial (Vero E6) and mononuclear (DH82 and 030D) cell lines. The sequenced whole genome revealed a 1.27 Mb circular chromosome with 96.87% identity to Rickettsia raoultii on the basis of average nucleotide identity analysis. A maximum-likelihood phylogeny tree placed the novel Rickettsia in its own branch within the spotted fever group. Immunofluorescence revealed single rods localized along the membrane in epithelial cells and randomly distributed in the cytoplasm of mononuclear cells. We propose the name Rickettsia finnyi sp. nov., strain 2024-CO-Wats, which is available from national and international Rickettsial isolate reference collections. Fever and thrombocytopenia were among abnormalities in the 17 naturally infected dogs we describe, underscoring the pathogenic importance of R. finnyi sp. nov. and its potential public health relevance.