Spotted fever rickettsiosis in Coronel Fabriciano, Minas Gerais State

We report cases of spotted fever rickettsiosis in Coronel Fabriciano Municipality of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The cases occurred in May and June of 2000. During this period there were two deaths among children from an area named Pedreira in a periurban area of this municipality. In a boy who died with clinical manifestations of Brazilian spotted fever, a necropsy revealed the presence of a spotted fever group Rickettsia. The serological results confirm the difficulty in the differential diagnosis of patients with symptoms of rickettsial diseases.