Epidemic typhus

[Zipporah Schumaker]

Epidemic typhus is a rickettsial disease that is caused by Rickettsia prowazekii and spread by body lice.

People with epidemic typhus have a fever, an intense headache, and extreme exhaustion, followed by a rash 4 to 6 days later.
To diagnose the infection, doctors test a sample of the rash and sometimes do blood tests.
Washing and drying infested clothes at high temperatures can help prevent the spread of infection.
Epidemic typhus is treated with an antibiotic.

Rickettsiae are a type of bacteria that can live only inside the cells of other organisms. The rickettsiae that cause epidemic typhus typically live in people (the host). But in North America, these rickettsiae can also live in flying squirrels.
Epidemic typhus occurs throughout the world. The infection is usually transmitted by body lice when their feces enters the body through breaks in the skin or sometimes through mucus membranes of the eyes or mouth. In the United States, people occasionally develop epidemic typhus after coming into contact with flying squirrels.
This infection is called epidemic typhus because in the past, it has caused large outbreaks (epidemics) that killed large numbers of people. Such outbreaks are now rare, but smaller ones have recently occurred in Africa. Epidemic typhus spreads most easily in crowded, unhygienic conditions as occur during war or civil unrest or in areas of extreme poverty.