Typhus fever

From WikiMD's Wellness Encyclopedia

Typhus fevers are a group of diseases caused by bacteria that are spread to humans by fleas, lice, and chiggers.

Epidemic typhus Burundi.jpg

Types[edit | edit source]

Typhus fevers include scrub typhus, murine typhus, and epidemic typhus.

Epidemic typhus[edit | edit source]

  • Epidemic typhus is also called louse-borne typhus.
  • It is an uncommon disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia prowazekii.
  • Epidemic typhus is spread to people through contact with infected body lice.
  • Though epidemic typhus was responsible for millions of deaths in previous centuries, it is now considered a rare disease.
  • Occasionally, cases continue to occur, in areas where extreme overcrowding is common and body lice can travel from one person to another.  
  • In the United States, rare cases of epidemic typhus, called sylvatic typhus, can occur. These cases occur when people are exposed to flying squirrels and their nests
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Typhus rash on the face and neck of a woman in the Fever Hospital, Abbassia, Egypt

Scrub typhus[edit | edit source]

  • Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi.
  • Scrub typhus is spread to people through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites).
  • The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rash.
  • Most cases of scrub typhus occur in rural areas of Southeast Asia, Indonesia, China, Japan, India, and northern Australia.
  • Anyone living in or traveling to areas where scrub typhus is found could get infected.
Typhoid fever and typhus fever
Typhoid fever and typhus fever

Flea-borne (murine) typhus[edit | edit source]

  • Flea-borne (murine) typhus, is a disease caused by a bacteria called Rickettsia typhi.
  • Flea-borne typhus is spread to people through contact with infected fleas.
  • Fleas become infected when they bite infected animals, such as rats, cats, or opossums.
  • When an infected flea bites a person or animal, the bite breaks the skin, causing a wound.
  • Fleas poop when they feed.
  • The poop (also called flea dirt) can then be rubbed into the bite wound or other wounds causing infection.
  • People can also breathe in infected flea dirt or rub it into their eyes.
  • This bacteria is not spread from person to person.
  • Flea-borne typhus occurs in tropical and subtropical climates around the world including areas of the United States (southern California, Hawaii, and Texas).
  • Flea-borne typhus is a rare disease in the United States.
Typhus fever - with particular reference to the Serbian epidemic
Typhus fever - with particular reference to the Serbian epidemic

Transmission[edit | edit source]

Chiggers spread scrub typhus, fleas spread murine typhus, and body lice spread epidemic typhus.

Symptoms[edit | edit source]

The most common symptoms are fever, headaches, and sometimes rash.

Also see[edit | edit source]


Typhus fever Resources

Contributors: Dr.T