Jail fever (epidemic typhus) outbreak in Burundi - PubMed (original) (raw)

Jail fever (epidemic typhus) outbreak in Burundi

D Raoult et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 1997 Jul-Sep.

Abstract

We recently investigated a suspected outbreak of epidemic typhus in a jail in Burundi. We tested sera of nine patients by microimmunofluorescence for antibodies to Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia typhi. We also amplified and sequenced from lice gene portions specific for two R. prowazekii proteins: the gene encoding for citrate synthase and the gene encoding for the rickettsial outer membrane protein. All patients exhibited antibodies specific for R. prowazekii. Specific gene sequences were amplified in two lice from one patient. The patients had typical clinical manifestations, and two died. Molecular techniques provided a convenient and reliable means of examining lice and confirming this outbreak. The jail-associated outbreak predates an extensive ongoing outbreak of louse-borne typhus in central eastern Africa after civil war and in refugee camps in Rwanda, Burundi (1), and Zaire.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Lancet. 1995 Feb 18;345(8947):450-1 -PubMed
    1. FEMS Immunol Med Microbiol. 1995 Mar;11(1):13-8 -PubMed
    1. J Clin Microbiol. 1995 Jul;33(7):1879-83 -PubMed
    1. Clin Diagn Lab Immunol. 1994 May;1(3):318-24 -PubMed
    1. Lancet. 1974 Sep 28;2(7883):742-4 -PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources