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The Los Angeles County Public Health Department (LAC DPH) reports a flea-borne flea typhus outbreak in downtown Los Angeles. Between July and September 2018, health officials identified nine cases of typhus flea.
Image / CDC
The cases lived or worked in downtown Los Angeles and six of them reported being homeless or living in temporary housing in the area. All cases were hospitalized and no deaths occurred.
Flea-borne typhus is endemic in the LAC region, with cases detected every year. In recent years, the average number of cases reported to LAC DPH has doubled to nearly 60 cases per year; However, the geographic clusters of size occurring in downtown Los Angeles are unusual. Most cases occur in summer and fall.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the main animals known to carry infected fleas are rats, wildcats and opossums. People who are highly exposed to these animals are at risk of contracting typhus. Dogs and pet cats allowed to enter the outdoors can also come in contact with infected fleas and pass them on to humans. Infected animals are not known to contract flea-typhus.
Flea-type typhus, also known as murine or endemic typhus, is a disease transmitted by fleas infected with Rickettsia typhi or Rickettsia felis.
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Flea-type typhus may be a mild, self-limiting illness, or may present as a serious illness requiring hospitalization. Symptoms appear 7 to 14 days after exposure and usually include sudden onset of fever, headache, chills, myalgia, abdominal pain or vomiting. A maculopapular rash may appear after a week, but may also be totally absent. Severe cases can lead to kidney, respiratory, ophthalmological, cardiac or neurological dysfunction.
Person-to-person transmission does not occur. Humans are a dead-end host of flea typhus.
Flea typhus is easily treated with antibiotics. Doxycycline is the treatment of choice.
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