Up until 1998, it was thought that only ticks in sub-Saharan Africa carried R. africae. However, a case of locally transmitted African tick bite fever in the French West Indies led to the discovery of R. africae carried by Amblyomma varigatum ticks introduced through cattle shipped from Senegal to Gaudeluope more than a century ago.[10] R. africae has been isolated from ticks on several Caribbean islands, though the only cases in humans in the Caribbean have occurred in the French West Indies.[8] R. africae has also been found in Amblyomma loculosum ticks in Oceania.[4]