{"id":1576,"date":"2026-07-07T20:54:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/?p=1576"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:54:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:54:32","slug":"deadly-murine-typhus-found-in-texas-cat-fleas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/deadly-murine-typhus-found-in-texas-cat-fleas\/","title":{"rendered":"Deadly Murine Typhus Found in Texas Cat Fleas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>COLLEGE STATION \u2014 Texas A&amp;M researchers have detected Rickettsia typhi, the bacterium that causes flea\u2011borne murine typhus, in cat fleas collected in the Rio Grande Valley, an area already reporting some of the highest human case numbers in the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Murine typhus can cause high fever, severe headache, rash, and in rare cases, life\u2011threatening complications. Human cases continue to rise across South Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Key findings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cat fleas tested positive for R. typhi<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Additional pathogens linked to cat scratch disease also detected<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Flea infestations on pets may increase human exposure risk<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Protect your household:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use veterinarian\u2011recommended flea control<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Keep cats indoors to reduce wildlife contact<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Check pets regularly for fleas<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Seek medical care if you develop fever or rash after flea bites<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Texas remains one of the few U.S. states where murine typhus is consistently transmitted. Researchers say continued surveillance is critical as warming temperatures and rising stray\u2011cat populations increase risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COLLEGE STATION \u2014 Texas A&amp;M researchers have detected Rickettsia typhi, the bacterium that causes flea\u2011borne murine typhus, in cat fleas collected in the Rio Grande Valley, an area already reporting some of the highest human case numbers in the state. Murine typhus can cause high fever, severe headache, rash, and in rare cases, life\u2011threatening complications. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1578,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1576\/revisions\/1578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hvhappens.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}