After conventional molecular and serologic testing failed to diagnose the cause of illness, deep sequencing identified spotted fever group Rickettsia DNA in a patient's blood sample. Sequences belonged to R. honei, the causative agent of Flinders Island spotted fever. Next-generation sequencing is proving to be a useful tool for clinical diagnostics.
Keywords: Australia; DNA; Rickettsia; bacteria; deep sequencing; etiology; fever; genome; rash; sequence analysis; spotted fever group.