These Galveston critters are carrying a dangerous disease - Chron

What the report says

Chron.com reported that a University of Texas Medical Branch study has found flea-borne murine typhus has become established in Galveston County and Southeast Texas, where it is commonly linked to fleas carried by opossums and feral cats. The report, published July 18, said UTMB researchers described 149 adult patients with murine typhus symptoms between April 2019 and October 2023 in the June 2026 issue of the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

According to Chron’s account of the study, almost 80% of the identified patients were hospitalized, and 33 patients — nearly 30% of those hospitalized — required intensive care. Two deaths were reported among the cases, one involving septic shock and another involving multiple organ failure. Symptoms can include fever, weakness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea, making the illness difficult to distinguish from other febrile diseases.

The article noted that murine typhus can be treated with antibiotics such as doxycycline, but diagnosis may be delayed because there is no real-time test and its symptoms overlap with more common illnesses. The UTMB researchers warned that treatment delays can be especially serious for older adults and immunocompromised patients, and Chron said the testing process can be costlier than assessments for similar conditions such as influenza.

Chron also reported that Galveston County health officials had seen a notable increase in cases in 2018 and that the Galveston County Health District provided more recent counts: 33 cases in 2024, 41 in 2025 and 16 so far in 2026. The CDC lists murine typhus as endemic in Southeast Texas, Hawaii and Southern California.