About the Authors

Michael L. Levin

MLevin@cdc.gov

Affiliation Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Lindsay F. Killmaster

Affiliation Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Galina E. Zemtsova

Affiliation Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Jana M. Ritter

Affiliation Infectious Diseases Pathology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Gregory Langham

Affiliation Animal Resources Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: MLL. Performed the experiments: MLL LFK GEZ GL JMR. Analyzed the data: MLL GL JMR. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: MLL LFK GEZ. Wrote the paper: MLL LFK GEZ GL JMR.