It seemed to be that the info given from that link on Typhus was very lacking in important specific details, so I copied and pasted this from anothere site:
Texas 06/04/11 statesman.com: by Mary Ann Roser – From January to May, local health authorities investigated more typhus cases than they did during the same period last year and in 2009, another indication that the once-rare disease is now establishing itself in Central Texas. In five months, the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department tallied eight probable and confirmed reports of murine typhus, not counting two others still under investigation. That compares with five probable and confirmed cases last year from January through May and six during that same period in 2009. Given the small numbers, the increase isn’t statistically significant, said Carole Barasch, health department spokeswoman. But after four years of annual outbreaks of murine typhus, it’s now clear the illness, which can be fatal, is endemic in Travis County, and residents need to take precautions, she said. Murine typhus is a flea-borne disease that commonly occurs in South Texas, California and Hawaii, with most cases reported from May through September. It is spread by fleas from rats, opossums, dogs, cats and raccoons. Humans contract it when an infected flea bites and leaves its feces on the bite wound. Symptoms include high fever, headache, chills, vomiting, nausea, muscle pain and rash. Patients generally respond to antibiotics, but some must be hospitalized. Two patients have been hospitalized this year; none died, Barasch said. Cases this year have been reported in four ZIP codes — 78722, 78703, 78704, and 78751 — and patients have ranged in age from 13 to 56, she said. For all of last year, the health department reported 14 confirmed and possible cases of typhus in Travis County; in 2009, there were 35 such cases, she said. A lack of rain can prompt animals to seek alternative water sources, possibly near dwellings and people. The health department advises that the public use flea control measures to protect themselves and their pets. Those steps include feeding pets indoors to avoid attracting wild animals to the neighborhood; clearing heavy undergrowth and debris from yards to keep animals from nesting; wearing long sleeves, pants, socks and shoes when outside; and using insect repellents containing the active ingredient DEET. Statewide, the number of reported murine typhus cases has increased dramatically between 1998, when there were 45, and 2007 — the most recent year for data — when there were 169. That jump is the result of health officials more actively looking for cases, the state’s website says.
My old textbook from Biochemistry says that the primary hosts for Endemic Murine Typhus are various kinds of rodents, such as rats and squirrels. It also says that campaigns in Texas to eliminate rats have in recent years caused the rat fleas to seek new hosts, indirectly causing outbreaks of the disease.
