12-11-2023 1:58pm

The CDC, reports Deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever outbreak in California

Anita Johnson-Brown Editor

The CDC has issued a health advisory reporting an outbreak of Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) in southern California that has led to the death of three patients. All five reported cases involved people who had recently traveled to or lived in Tecate, Mexico and had been diagnosed in southern California hospitals between July and December 2023. One patient was an adult while the other four were under 18. Three of the patients were from the U.S. while the other two were residents of Mexico.

The RMSF disease is a severe and rapidly progressive disease that is often deadly, transmitted by biting infected ticks. The CDC warned that the disease is endemic in several northern Mexico states bordering the U.S. including Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Nuevo León, as well as some parts of the southwestern U.S. The bacteria that cause RMSF, Rickettsia rickettsii, are spread by brown dog ticks, which are reddish-brown and often found on domestic canines.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, expressed some concerns about the cases. He explained that the cases are still isolated, but he does worry that with the porous borders, these ticks carrying disease could cross into the U.S. with migrants.

Symptoms of Rocky Mountain spotted fever are usually mild in the first few days, including headache, low-to-moderate fever, abdominal pain, rash, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle aches and pain, and swelling. The dog tick, which causes RMSF, is larger and lacks the characteristic white spot of deer ticks. The standard treatment for patients with this condition is the antibiotic doxycycline. RMSF is a rapidly progressive disease and is often fatal if not treated early. In Mexico, the disease’s fatality rate can be greater than 40%.

The CDC urges healthcare providers to consider potential RMSF when evaluating patients with fever who have recently been in northern Mexico and to report all cases to their local, state, territorial, or tribal health departments. The CDC recommends seeking immediate medical attention for people who are experiencing symptoms and have recently traveled to a northern Mexico city. To prevent the tick-borne disease, the CDC recommends treating dogs with an EPA-registered insect repellent, wearing long sleeves and long pants, and checking for ticks after outdoor activities, plus removing any ticks right away.

By Anita Johnson-Brown|The Los Angeles News