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Definition of: rickettsia
(rik·et′sē·ə) noun plural ·si·ae (-si·ē)
Any of a genus (Rickettsia) of micro-organisms typically parasitic in the bodies of certain ticks and lice, but transmissible to other animals and to man; especially, R. prowazeki, the causative agent of typhus. [after Howard T. Ricketts, 1871–1910, U.S. pathologist]
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