Typhus cases tracking
last year’s total
State health officials report 15 confirmed cases of murine typhus as of Wednesday, compared with 14 cases at the same time last year.
There were 38 cases in 2003 and 47 in 2002 -- the highest since the 1940s. State officials said prior to 2002 the state averaged about four to five murine typhus cases a year.
State health spokeswoman Janice Okubo said that to some degree, the number of cases has remained high this year because there is a greater public awareness of murine typhus.
"Physicians have a higher awareness," she said Thursday. "They're testing more for it."
Okubo said that although the numbers are higher than previous averages of four or five a year, state officials are not seeing any "unusual trends or clusters."
"We're not seeing anything alarming," she said.
A 50-year-old Lahaina man who contracted murine typhus in 2002 died last year in California as a result of complications from the disease.
The infection can be treated with antibiotics, but murine typhus causes severe symptoms on rare occasions, health officials said.
Murine typhus typically causes body aches, headaches, rashes and fever and is usually gone two weeks after treatment, health officials said.
People typically contract murine typhus bacteria from fleas that first bite an infected rodent.
An increase in typhus has paralleled a rise in the rodent population in many places.
Okubo said state workers on various islands have been setting traps to control and monitor the rodent population.
She said Kauai's mouse population was down from previous periods, and there was no problem reported with Oahu's rodent population.
State officials said the population of rodents seemed high on Maui, but workers were controlling increases by using poisoned oats in Lahaina and South Maui.
Officials advise residents living in areas where there are mice and rats that before setting rodent traps, they should treat their homes and surrounding areas for fleas.
The 15 cases in Hawaii this year as of Wednesday included five in Maui County, four on Kauai and six on Oahu, including four in Honolulu, one in Waianae and one in Kaneohe.
The five on Maui included three in South Maui, one Upcountry and one on Molokai. The four on Kauai included two in Kekaha, one in Waimea and one in Hanapepe.
Last year for the same period, there were nine in Maui County and five on Oahu.
State Health Department
www.state.hi.us/health