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Archive Number 20110701.2000
Published Date 01-JUL-2011
Subject PRO/AH/EDR> Murine typhus - USA (02): (TX)
MURINE TYPHUS - USA (02): (TEXAS)
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A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Wed 29 Jun 2011
Source: KZTV [edited]
<http://www.kztv10.com/news/local-pet-store-investigated-for-possible-thyphus-outbreak/>
The doors of Petsmart [in Corpus Christi, Texas] were open for
business Wednesday afternoon [29 Jun 2011], despite the fact that just
24 hours earlier county health inspectors arrived at the store to
begin investigating a complaint that several employees had contracted
typhus, a potentially fatal infectious disease. [Petsmart is a retail
chain doing business in the United States and Canada selling pet
supplies and services such as grooming and dog training. - Mod.ML]
A tip phoned into our newsroom by someone identifying themselves as a
friend of a Petsmart employee said the staff was displaying symptoms
of murine typhus, after coming in contact with rats.
Murine typhus, also known as endemic typhus, is carried by fleas that
attach themselves to rats. A manager denied our request to appear on
camera, however he would confirm that there was one employee out sick
who was having some blood work done to determine what exactly was
wrong with her.
Staff at the health department said the complaint stated that 4
different employees contracted the virus through coming in contact
with rats.
At this time we do not know whether the rodents were brought in to be
sold, or if they were a part of an uninvited infestation.
[Byline: Spencer Lubitz]
--
Communicated by:
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[The following is extracted from ProMED-mail post Murine typhus -
USA: (TX) 20110607.1734:
"Murine typhus, which occurs throughout the world, is a flea-borne
rickettsial disease caused by the _Rickettsia typhi_. Rats are the
primary animal reservoir of _R. typhi_; however, other mammals, such
as free-ranging cats, dogs, and opossums and their fleas can maintain
this microorganism in areas where rats and rat fleas are absent (Azad
AF, Radulovic S, Higgins JA, et al: Flea-borne rickettsioses: ecologic
considerations. Emerg Infect Dis 1997; 3(3): 319-27; available at
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2627639/>).
Humans are usually infected by contact with infected flea feces,
either by inoculation into excoriated fleabites, inhalation, or
ingestion. Symptoms include fever, headache, chills, vomiting, nausea,
myalgias, and rash. The illness usually resolves within 3 weeks, even
if untreated. However some patients are sick enough to be hospitalized
in an intensive care unit and up to 4 percent of hospitalized patients
will die from the infection. Treatment is doxycycline. Prevention is
directed at control of flea vectors and animal reservoirs.
Murine typhus occurs in the USA in southern Texas, southern
California, and Hawaii. In 2008, 33 laboratory-confirmed cases of
murine typhus occurred in Austin, Texas (see ProMED-mail post Murine
typhus - USA (04): (TX) 2008-2009 20091120.3995). Illness ranged from
mild to severe, with 73 percent of patients requiring hospitalization.
Environmental investigation at the time suggested that opossums and
domestic animals likely played a role in the maintenance and spread of
_R. typhi_. Murine typhus is a reportable condition in Texas, and
health-care providers are required to report any suspected cases to
the local health department through the National Electronic Disease
Surveillance System within one week of detection."
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in Southeast Texas. It is the
principal city of the 3-county Corpus Christi Metropolitan Statistical
Area with a population in 2008 of 416 376. The city is 218 miles (351
km) south of Austin, Texas, the site of an earlier outbreak of murine
typhus this year (Murine typhus - USA: (TX) 20110607.1734). The state
of Texas in the South Central United States and the City of Corpus
Christi can be located on the HealthMap/ProMED-mail interactive map at
<http://healthmap.org/r/0*I2>. - Mod.ML]