We isolated Rickettsia japonica from a febrile patient in Lu'an City, China, in 2013. Subsequently, we found an R. japonica seroprevalence of 54.8% (494/902) in the rural population of Anhui Province and an R. japonica prevalence in Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks of 0.5% (5/935). R. japonica and its tick vector exist in China.
Keywords: 16S rRNA; 17-kDa protein; Anhui Province; China; Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks; Japanese spotted fever; Rickettsia japonica; Shandong Province; bacteria; blood chemistries; electron microscopy; fever; papular rash; phylogenetic analysis; rash; seroprevalence; spotted fever group Rickettsiae; tickborne infection; urinalysis; vector-borne infections.