Top Ten MCQs about Rickettsial Disease

Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular parasites. They are the agents of typhus, spotted fever, and Q fever. Following MCQs are very basic but very important MCQs you must have to master.

MCQ Bacteriology 1: Which of the following bacterial species cause Epidemic Typhus?
a. Rickettsiae prowazekii
b. Rickettsiae typhi
c. Rickettsiae tsutsugamushi
d. Rickettsiae akari

MCQ Bacteriology 2: Rocky Mountain Spotted fever is caused by;
a. Rickettsiae prowazekii
b. Coxiella burnetii
c. Rickettsiae rickettsii
d. Rickettsiae typhi

MCQ Bacteriology 3: Which of the following bacterial species can be transmitted via aerosol?
a. Rickettsiae rickettsii
b. Rickettsiae typhi
c. Coxiella burnetii
d. Rickettsiae prowazekii

MCQ Bacteriology 4: Which of the following rickettsial disease is flea-borne?
a. Rocky Mountain Spotted fever
b. Epidemic Typhus
c. Endemic Typhus
d. Scrub Typhus

MCQ Bacteriology 5: All of the following rickettsial diseases are zoonoses except the one…..
a. Rocky Mountain Spotted fever
b. Endemic Typhus
c. Scrub Typhus
d. Epidemic Typhus

MCQ Bacteriology 6: Brill-Zinsser disease is caused by
a. Rickettsiae typhi
b. Rickettsiae tsutsugamushi
c. Rickettsiae prowazekii
d. Rickettsiae rickettsii

MCQ Bacteriology 7: Which of the following statement about Rickettsiae is not correct?
a. Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular bacteria
b. Weil-Felix test can be used in the diagnosis of rickettsial disease
c. All the rickettsial diseases are zoonoses
d. Rickettsiae are gram-negative but stain poorly with standard Gram Stain

MCQ Bacteriology 8: Which of the following rickettsial disease can be transmitted from person to person by the human body louse, pediculus?
a. Epidemic Typhus
b. Endemic Typhus
c. Scrub Typhus
d. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

MCQ Bacteriology 9: Ticks is an Anthropod vector responsible for the transmission of one of the following organisms?
a. Rickettsiae prowazekii
b. Rickettsiae typhi
c. Rickettsiae tsutsugamushi
d. Rickettsiae rickettsii

MCQ Bacteriology 10: Which of the following Rickettsial disease is not transmitted to humans by the bite of an arthropod vector?
a. Rickettsial Pox
b. Q Fever
c. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
d. Epidemic Typhus

Answer Keys

1. a. Epidemic typhus, also called louse-borne typhus, is caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia prowazekii
2. c. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is a serious tick-borne illness, caused by the bacteria Rickettsia rickettsii.
3. c.Coxiella burnetii, the etiological agent of Q fever, is transmitted to humans by inhalation of contaminated aerosols.
4. c. Flea-borne typhus also known as murine typhus or endemic typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia typhi.
5. d. Epidemic typhus is transmitted by the human body louse, which becomes infected by feeding on the blood of patients with acute typhus fever.
6. c. R. prowazekii persists as a latent human infection and years later when immunity is diminished, some persons suffer recrudescent typhus fever (Brill-Zinsser disease).
7. c. Most of the rickettsial diseases are zoonoses but not all.
8. a. Epidemic typhus
9. d.  Rickettsiae rickettsii
10. b. Q fever. Its transmission to humans is by the aerosol route.