Maui reports 2 new cases of typhus

By Christie Wilson
Neighbor Island Editor

WAILUKU, Maui — Two more cases of murine typhus have been reported on Maui, but public health officials still aren't sure whether mice are the source of the disease.

So far this year, there have been six confirmed cases of the bacterial infection on Maui and one on O'ahu. Hawai'i typically experiences four to five cases of murine typhus a year.

Forty-seven cases were reported last year — the most in any year since 1947. Because most of those cases were counted in the late summer months, Maui District Health Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang said it's too early to tell whether the state is on track for a repeat of last year's outbreak.

Murine typhus is spread when flea feces enters a flea bite wound or is inhaled. The disease is most commonly associated with rat fleas.

Symptoms include fever, headaches, body aches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and a rash.

The illness is treated with antibiotics.

Last year's outbreak corresponded to an explosion in Maui's mouse population during the late spring and summer, when rodents and fleas are most active and abundant. But Pang said it has never been proved that fleas from mice were responsible for the high number of cases.

Vector control crews were so busy responding to urgent calls about mice overrunning homes that they never had a chance to investigate whether rats had a role in spreading the disease, he said.

When monitoring traps first detected an upswing in the mouse population this year, crews immediately began widespread scattering of an oat mixture containing the rodenticide zinc phosphide on large tracts of vacant land.

Pang said blood samples from mice recently trapped on Maui were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but the results aren't expected for several months.

Knowing which critter is the culprit in the spread of murine typhus would guide health officials in choosing an effective rodent-control strategy.

If it is determined that rat fleas are the source, the scope of poisoning would be narrowed to areas where rats are more likely to be found, Pang said.