8 infected with rare form of typhus near U.S. Los Angeles

Eight people near Los Angeles have been infected with a rare form of typhus that is spread by fleas, authorities announced on Saturday, Xinhua reported.
   Of the eight people who contracted the disease, five were male. Patients' ages ranged from less than 1 year old to 59 years old, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
   "This is a rare disease," said Dr. Helene Calvet, a health officer in Long Beach where the cases were reported. Long Beach is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Los Angeles.
   The patients are recovering after spending a day in hospital, Calvet said.
   "The vast majority of the population is not going to come in contact with this disease or come down with it."
   "It's treatable with antibiotics, and most people recover," Calvet said.
   Murine typhus is spread by fleas that have hosted on infected cats, opossums, raccoons, rats and other rodents. Common symptoms include high fever, severe headaches, body aches and rash.
   It can result in severe illness and hospitalization, but rarely causes death. it is not spread person-to-person.
   While biting people, the fleas expel their feces, which contain the bacteria that causes the disease. The fleas' excrement enters the body through the bite wound or from a person scratching the bite area.
   The last four cases were diagnosed in September, and the remaining four were diagnosed in July and August. Last year, two cases of flea-borne typhus were reported, but health department officials could not explain this year's increase.
   Calvet said no cases were reported in Long Beach prior to 2006, when there were six. In 2007, nine cases were reported. Most flea-borne typhus cases occur in Southern California, south Texas and Hawaii, according to the health department Web site.