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Anaplasma phagocytophilumcauses granulocytic anaplasmosis, a debilitating infection that can be fatal in the immunocompromised. It also afflicts animals, including dogs, horses, and sheep. No granulocytic anaplasmosis vaccine exists. Because A. phagocytophilumis an obligate intracellular bacterium, inhibiting microbe-host cell interactions that facilitate invasion can disrupt infection. The binding domains of A. phagocytophilumadhesins A. phagocytophiluminvasion protein A (AipA), A. phagocytophilumsurface protein (Asp14), and outer membrane protein A (OmpA) are essential for optimal bacterial entry into host cells, but their relevance to infection in vivois undefined.

Orientia tsutsugamushiis an obligate intracellular bacterium that infects mononuclear and endothelial cells to cause the emerging global health threat scrub typhus. The ability of O. tsutsugamushito survive in monocytes facilitates bacterial dissemination to endothelial cells, which can subsequently lead to several potentially fatal sequelae.