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Volume 9, Number 10—October 2003
Dispatch

Flying Squirrel–associated Typhus, United States

Mary G. Reynolds*Comments to Author , John W. Krebs*, James A. Comer*, John W. Sumner*, Thomas C. Rushton†, Carlos E. Lopez‡, William L. Nicholson*, Jane A. Rooney§, Susan E. Lance-Parker¶, Jennifer H. McQuiston*, Christopher D. Paddock*, and James E. Childs*
Author affiliations: *Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; †Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, USA; ‡Atlanta I.D. Group, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; §West Virginia Division of Public Health, Charleston, West Virginia, USA; ¶Georgia Division of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Main Article

Table

Epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of flying squirrel–associated typhus fever in the United States, 1984–2002a

Characteristic
 Case no.
I
 IIb
 III
 IV
Sex
 Male
 Female
 Male
 Male
Age (y)
 54
 54
 44
 57
State of residence
 Massachusetts
 North Carolina
 West Virginia
 Georgia
Mo of onset
 February 1998
 September 1999
 January 2002
 March 2002
Flying squirrel contact
 Y
 Y
 Y
 Y
Serologic titer (no. d from onset)
IgG Rickettsia prowazekii
 4,096 (10)
 nd
 128 (53)
 8,192 (7)
8,192 (13)
32,768 (38)
 8,192 (23)
IgG R. typhi
 nd
 nd
 <32 (53)
 4,096 (7)
4,096 (13)
4,096 (23)
IgM R. prowazekii
 nd
 2,048 (18)
 1,024 (53)
 nd
IgM R. typhi
 nd
 512 (18)
 1,024 (53)
 nd
Symptoms
Max fever (°C)
 nr
 40°C
 38°C
 40°C
Chills
 Y
 nr
 Y
 Y
Headache
 Y
 Y
 Y
 Y
Rash (type, location) nr Y (macular, trunk) N Yc

aIg, immunoglobulin; Y, yes; N, no; nd, not done; nr, not recorded.
bRecurrent illness, first episode January 1999, flying squirrel contact, rash at that time. Other symptoms associated with both episodes. Serologic titer from second episode.
cRash herpetic, not directly attributable to R. prowazekii infection but commonly seen in context of classic louse-borne epidemic typhus (8).

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References
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