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ARTICLE |

Keep Murine Typhus in Mind FREE

Theodore E. Woodward, MD
JAMA. 1986;255(16):2211-2212. doi:10.1001/jama.1986.03370160109036
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In this issue, Taylor and Betz1 describe the occurrence of 200 cases of murine typhus in Texas from 1980 to 1984. Up to 1940, as many as 5,000 cases of rat-flea typhus occurred in the United States annually. With the advent of control measures, particularly those directed toward the control of rodents and their ectoparasites, the incidence diminished sharply, reducing the annual number of reported cases to 61 and 58 in 1981 and 1982, respectively. Murine typhus is one of those specific infectious diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, plague, or brucellosis, that occur infrequently and sporadically so that physicians are no longer aware of their classic features or their potential to cause illness. Murine typhus has its established reservoir in rodents, just as Rocky Mountain spotted fever has its reservoir in ticks. Eradication is not feasible; hence, these diseases will continue to occur.

Epidemic typhus fever

REFERENCES

Taylor JP, Betz TG:  Epidemiology of murine typhus in Texas . JAMA 1986;;255:2173-2176.
Nicolle C, Compte C, Conseil E:  Transmission experimentale du typhus exanthematique par le pou du corps . C R Acad Sci 1909;;149:486-489.
Ricketts HY:  The transmission of Rocky Mountain spotted fever by the bite of a wood tick (Dermacentor occidentalis) . JAMA 1906;;47:358.
Brill N:  An acute infectious disease of unknown origin: A clinical study based on 221 cases . Am J Med Sci 1910;;139:482-502.
Anderson JF, Goldberger J:  The relation of Brill's disease to typhus fever . Public Health Rep 1912;;5:149-160.
Maxcy KF:  An epidemiological study of endemic typhus (Brill's disease) in the southeastern United States with special reference to its mode of transmission . Public Health Rep 1926;;4:2967-2995.
Dyer RE, Rumreich A, Badger LF:  Typhus fever: A virus of the typhus type derived from fleas collected from wild rats . Public Health Rep 1931;;46:334-338.
Zinsser H:  The rickettsial diseases: Variety, epidemiology and geographical distribution . Am J Hyg 1937;;25:430-463.
Zinsser H, Castaneda MR:  On the isolation from a case of Brill's disease of a typhus strain resembling the European type . N Engl J Med 1933;;209:815-819.
Sonenshine DE, Bozeman FM, Williams MS, et al:  Epizootiology of epidemic typhus (Rickettsia prowazekii) in flying squirrels . Am J Trop Med Hyg 1978;;27:339-349.
McDade JE, Shepard CC, Redus MA, et al:  Evidence of rickettsial infections in the United States . Am J Trop Med Hyg 1980;;29:277-284.

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Taylor JP, Betz TG:  Epidemiology of murine typhus in Texas . JAMA 1986;;255:2173-2176.
Nicolle C, Compte C, Conseil E:  Transmission experimentale du typhus exanthematique par le pou du corps . C R Acad Sci 1909;;149:486-489.
Ricketts HY:  The transmission of Rocky Mountain spotted fever by the bite of a wood tick (Dermacentor occidentalis) . JAMA 1906;;47:358.
Brill N:  An acute infectious disease of unknown origin: A clinical study based on 221 cases . Am J Med Sci 1910;;139:482-502.
Anderson JF, Goldberger J:  The relation of Brill's disease to typhus fever . Public Health Rep 1912;;5:149-160.
Maxcy KF:  An epidemiological study of endemic typhus (Brill's disease) in the southeastern United States with special reference to its mode of transmission . Public Health Rep 1926;;4:2967-2995.
Dyer RE, Rumreich A, Badger LF:  Typhus fever: A virus of the typhus type derived from fleas collected from wild rats . Public Health Rep 1931;;46:334-338.
Zinsser H:  The rickettsial diseases: Variety, epidemiology and geographical distribution . Am J Hyg 1937;;25:430-463.
Zinsser H, Castaneda MR:  On the isolation from a case of Brill's disease of a typhus strain resembling the European type . N Engl J Med 1933;;209:815-819.
Sonenshine DE, Bozeman FM, Williams MS, et al:  Epizootiology of epidemic typhus (Rickettsia prowazekii) in flying squirrels . Am J Trop Med Hyg 1978;;27:339-349.
McDade JE, Shepard CC, Redus MA, et al:  Evidence of rickettsial infections in the United States . Am J Trop Med Hyg 1980;;29:277-284.
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