"Three deaths resulted from outbreak of Rocky Mountain spotted fever among people who traveled or lived in Mexican border city".
"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday warned clinicians and the public about an outbreak of a rare but deadly tick-borne disease that hospitalized five patients in Southern California, killing three of them, after they traveled to or lived in a Mexican border city in recent months.
Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF) is transmitted by the bite of infected ticks that live primarily on dogs. It’s rare in the United States but it has emerged at epidemic levels in northern Mexico, where more than 2,000 cases, resulting in hundreds of deaths, have been reported in the past five years.
In a health advisory issued late Friday, the CDC said the five patients had been diagnosed since late July. All had traveled to or lived in the city of Tecate, in the northern Mexican state of Baja California, within two weeks of getting sick. All five sought care in hospitals in Southern California, including four pediatric patients. CDC officials declined to provide more details about the individuals, to protect their privacy. Three of the patients were U.S. residents, and two were siblings who lived in Mexico. Two deaths were pediatric patients and one was an adult, CDC officials said."
Lena H. Sun reports for the Washington Post December 8, 2023.
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