Thanks to Councilperson Gerrie Schipske’s Blog for this posting
Long Beach Public Health Officials Issue
Recommendations to Prevent Flea-Borne Typhus
By Content Provider(s): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / Janice Carr [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The City of Long Beach is alerting the public about flea-borne typhus, a disease transmitted to humans by fleas. In 2012 to date, eleven cases of flea-borne typhus have been reported among Long Beach residents, as compared to nine reported for all of 2011. Officials conducted a detailed investigation into the cases that have been reported, and believe that in all cases, exposure to fleas carried by opossums, cats, or rodents may have been the source of infection. Prior to 2006, flea-borne typhus was not known to be present in the City of Long Beach.
Flea-borne typhus (murine typhus) is a disease spread by fleas living on rodents (rats, mice), opossums, cats, and raccoons. People get the disease through the bites of infected fleas. Flea-borne typhus is not spread from person to person. The most common symptoms of flea-borne typhus are high fevers, severe headaches, body aches and a rash. The disease is rarely fatal, but people can become sick enough to be hospitalized.
Read more HERE