Several dogs in the US have died following infections by a newly discovered tick-borne disease from the same genus responsible for ' spotted fever '. Scientists are watching the bacterium closely for fear it could jump to humans.

Many of the bacterium's relatives can infect our own species, so the genus "should always be considered potentially pathogenic" to humans, health experts say .

Close surveillance is key.

Scientists at North Carolina State University have now successfully cultured the infection from a sick dog, who had symptoms similar to those of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF, species ) – also transmitted through tick bites .

When the team sequenced the bacterium's genome, they realized it was a whole new species in the spotted fever group. It's been named Ric

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