Murine Typhus in Austin, Texas, USA, 2008

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Adjemian, Jennifer ; Parks, Sharyn ; McElroy, Kristina ; Campbell, Jill ; Eremeeva, Marina E. ; Nicholson, William L. ; McQuiston, Jennifer ; Taylor, Jeffery
• Description:
  In August 2008, Texas authorities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigated reports of increased numbers of febrile rash illnesses in Austin to confirm the causative agent as Rickettsia typhi, to assess the outbreak magnitude and illness severity, and to identify potential animal reservoirs and peridomestic factors that may have contributed to disease emergence. Thirty-three human cases of confirmed murine typhus were identified. Illness onset was reported from March to October. No patients died, but 23 (70%) were hospitalized. The case-patients clustered geographically in central Austin; 12 (36%) resided in a single ZIP code area. Specimens from wildlife and domestic animals near case-patient homes were assessed; 18% of cats, 44% of dogs, and 71% of opossums had antibodies reactive to R. typhi. No evidence of R. typhi was detected in the whole blood, tissue, or arthropod specimens tested. These findings suggest that an R. typhi cycle involving opossums and domestic animals may be present in Austin.
• Subjects:
  Adolescent Adult Animals Animals, Domestic Antibodies, Bacterial Cat Diseases Cats Child Communicable Diseases, Emerging Disease Outbreaks Dog Diseases Dogs Female Humans Male Middle Aged Opossums Polymerase Chain Reaction Research Sequence Analysis, DNA Siphonaptera Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 16(3):412-417.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Texas
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  16
• Issue:
  3
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:1a08cd813b9c6108be09497f6260a7a3aaeca353aa565aacc09e300f3dcd84d3
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/7938/cdc_7938_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 215.10 KB ]