Here are some facts that should be helpful for your brochure:
Typhus Fever (flea-borne)
What is typhus fever?
Typhus fever, also called typhus, is a disease that occurs throughout the world in areas where people and rats occupy the same buildings and where large numbers of mice live. It is also called murine typhus fever and is rare in the U.S.
Who gets typhus?
Anyone can get typhus but it occurs more often in people whose occupations or living conditions bring them into contact with rats.
How is this disease spread?
It is not directly spread from person to person. People get typhus after infective rat fleas contaminate fresh skin wounds or the flea bite site.
What are the symptoms of typhus?
Symptoms include fever, headache, chills, and general pains that are followed by a rash. The rash spreads to the whole body except for the face, palms, and soles of the feet. This form of typhus fever is very similar to the typhus that is spread by lice (louse-borne typhus), but it is milder. A person cannot get typhus fever more than once.
How soon after exposure do symptoms appear?
The symptoms may appear from 1 to 2 weeks after the flea bite, usually within 12 days.
Where are the organisms that cause typhus found?
Rats, mice and possibly other small mammals harbor the germ that causes disease. Fleas become infected by biting these animals and then may pass the disease to humans.
How is it diagnosed?
The disease may be confirmed by various laboratory tests, usually tests of the blood.
What is the treatment for typhus?
Specific antibiotics such as tetracycline and chloramphenicol may be prescribed by a doctor to treat typhus.
How can typhus be prevented?
By avoiding contact with flea-infested rats and mice.
-
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/epi/typhusf.htm
There are three types of typhus: endemic, epidemic and scrub typhus
Hope it helps!
