Murine Typhus in Austin, Texas, USA, 2008
Open accessAbstract
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.
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Cats and dogs have been found seropositive for Rickettsia typhi in Europe and the USA, so they might have a certain epidemiological role in the dispersion of this zoonosis.
“Cats and dogs have been found seropositive for R. typhi in both Europe and USA [31,32], thus they might have a certain epidemiological role in the dispersion of this zoonosis [33].”
From Fleas infesting pets in the era of emerging extra-intestinal nematodes (2013) · cites this paper as [32]
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References 19 · Cited by 95
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [15]Texas Department of State Health Services. Murine typhus in Texas. The EpiLink. 2008; 65: 1– 3.
- Authors
- Adjemian, J., Parks, S., McElroy, K., Campbell, J., Eremeeva, M. E., Nicholson, W. L., McQuiston, J., & Taylor, J.
- Affiliations
- These authors contributed equally to this article.Current affiliation: Federal Bureau of Prisons, Washington, DC, USA.
- These authors contributed equally to this article.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- Corresponding author
- Adjemian, Jennifer
- Venue
- Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Published
- 2010-03
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 412-417
- ISSN
- 1080-6040 (ISSN-L)
- 1080-6059
- PMC
- PMC3322020
- OpenAlex
- W2136163082
- Cited by
- 95
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 5.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- public-domain
- Locations
- Emerging infectious diseases (publishedVersion, public-domain)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Vector-borne infectious diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Zoonotic diseases and public health
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Parasitology › Bartonella species infections research
- Keywords
- murine typhus, Rickettsia typhi, outbreak investigation, Didelphidae, domestic animals, cats, dogs, reservoir hosts, peridomestic transmission, disease emergence, Austin, Texas
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Animals, Animals, Domestic, Antibodies, Bacterial, Cat Diseases, Cats, Child, Disease Outbreaks, Dog Diseases, Dogs, Female, Siphonaptera, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Opossums, Rickettsia typhi, Texas, Typhus, Endemic Flea-Borne, Polymerase Chain Reaction, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Communicable Diseases, Emerging, Young Adult
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