Mice and mongooses
checked for typhus
WAILUKU >> State and federal health officials are expanding their investigation about the spread of murine typhus in Hawaii by conducting tests of not only rats, but also field mice and mongooses.
Dr. Paul Kitsutani, an official with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said health officials want to know if the mice and mongooses play a role in transmitting the disease.
The CDC Web site says that, in general, the bacteria Rickettsia typhi is carried by rodents.
Kitsutani said in previous years, the murine typhus bacteria has been found in blood tests on rats in Hawaii.
But he said it was too early to tell whether the mice and mongooses here also carry the bacteria.
The results of the testing could help in developing a more effective strategy for controlling the spread of the disease, said state health spokeswoman Janice Okubo.
State health workers in May were spreading poison oats in areas where there were noticeable increases in field mice population, including South Maui and Molokai.
Okubo said that as of April, the state had six confirmed cases statewide -- one in Ewa Beach on Oahu and five on Maui, including two in Kihei, one in Paia, and one in Pukalani.
Okubo said the public should take the same precautions as last year, such as cutting tall brush away from their homes, setting traps, and covering receptacles containing food and trash.
State health officials said other than last year when there were 47 confirmed cases of murine typhus statewide, an average of four or five cases occur annually.
The 47 confirmed cases were the most since 1944, when Hawaii had 186 confirmed cases, state officials said.
People typically contract murine typhus from fleas that first bite an infected rodent, then a human being. Symptoms include fever, rash, body and headaches.
The infection can be treated with antibiotics.
None of the 47 who contracted the disease last year died, but 18 people were hospitalized, including a Lahaina man who suffered encephalitis and kidney failure.