立克次体（Rickettsia），或者称立克次氏体是一类细菌，但许多特征和病毒一样，如不能在培养基上培养，可以通过瓷滤器过滤，只能在动物细胞内寄生繁殖等。直径只有0.3-1μm，小于绝大多数细菌。立克次体有细胞形态，除恙虫病立克次体外，细胞壁含有细菌特有的肽聚糖。细胞壁为双层结构，其中脂类含量高于一般细菌，无鞭毛。同时有DNA和RNA两种核酸，但没有核仁及核膜，属于适应了寄生生活的α-变形菌。革兰染色呈阴性，效果不明显。立克次体取名是为了纪念美国病理学家霍华德·泰勒·立克次（Howard Taylor Ricketts，1871年2月9日 - 1910年5月3日），立克次在芝加哥大学工作期间发现了落矶山斑点热和鼠型斑疹伤寒的病原体（立克次体）和传播方式，由于工作原因，他自己也死于斑疹伤寒。他所发现的病原体被命名为立克次体属。

Rickettsia is a genus of nonmotile, gram-negative, nonspore-forming, highly pleomorphic bacteria that can present as cocci (0.1 μm in diameter), rods (1–4 μm long), or thread-like (10 μm long). The term rickettsia, named after Howard Taylor Ricketts, is often used interchangeably for any member of the Rickettsiales. Being obligate intracellular parasites, the Rickettsia survival depends on entry, growth, and replication within the cytoplasm of eukaryotic host cells (typically endothelial cells). Rickettsia cannot live in artificial nutrient environments and is grown either in tissue or embryo cultures; typically, chicken embryos are used: a method developed by Ernest William Goodpasture and his colleagues at Vanderbilt University in the early 1930s.