Services to Characterize Typhus Group Rickettsial Infections in Man Through Clinical, Serological, and Epidemiological Studies

摘要

A surveillance program to assess the frequency of occurrence of Typhus Group Rickettsial infection in man was carried out in portions of Virginia and North Carolina over a 2-year period. Of the 32 cases of suspected rickettsial disease investigated by project personnel, serum specimens were obtained from 18 patients. Serological studies, including toxin neutralization, provided a diagnosis of epidemic typhus for 6 illnesses which had their onset during the late fall to early spring seasons. Three other cases, with onsets during the summer months were diagnosed as Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Field studies undertaken in the vicinity of the cases of presumed epidemic typhus established that 3 patients were probably exposed to flying squirrels which constitute the wild animal reservoir of Rickettsia prowazekii in the eastern United States. These findings provide circumstantial evidence that this enzootic reservoir of epidemic typhus does constitute a health hazard to man, but the existing ecological circumstances result in a very low incidence of disease occurrence.