Quebec Reports First Case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

A tick whose bite can transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, at the French National Institute of Agricultural Research in Maison-Alfort, France, on July 20, 2016. Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images

Quebec health officials have confirmed the province’s first case of a tick-borne bacterial disease that can cause serious illness and death.

The case of Rocky Mountain spotted fever was discovered in Estrie, according to an epidemiologist and researcher with the local health authority.