BRAZOS COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — A bacterial infection called flea-borne typhus is making a comeback in Texas, posing a growing risk to pet owners and their families across the state.
15 ABC spoke with a local animal organization about the precautions they're taking to keep both their animals and the community safe from this potentially serious disease.
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"It can be a serious concern for the humans that interact with pets, especially when we are getting an influx of pets that are covered in fleas," Aggieland Humane Society Executive Director, Katrina Ross, said.
Ross explained how easily the disease can spread from infected animals to humans.
"All it takes, to my understanding, is one flea bite of an infected flea that could carry and transmit," she said.
The flea-borne disease that can spread from animals like dogs and cats to humans. The Texas Department of State Health Services reports more than 6,700 cases between 2008 and 2023, with an additional 680 cases recorded this year alone.
Ross has witnessed firsthand how the disease can impact volunteers and staff at animal shelters.
"In my last shelter out in Galveston, we had some volunteers that had contracted typhus through what we believe to be our community cat program and just transporting cats and getting fleas in their car, and unfortunately it is something that can happen when we're faced with pets so much," Ross said.
Common symptoms of flea-borne typhus include fever, headaches and body aches. However, neighbors at Aggieland Humane Society aren't taking any chances with the health of their volunteers, employees or the animals in their care.
"Here at Aggieland Humane, all of our pets coming in are treated with an over the counter flea treatment right upon intake," Ross said.
She demonstrated the treatment process, showing individual blister packs containing appropriate doses for different sized animals.
"This here is what we use in these blister packs. So every pet that comes in will get their appropriate dose, whether it's a big dog or a small dog or a cat," Ross said.
The shelter goes beyond just treating incoming animals for fleas.
"On top of that precaution, we do also have monthly pest control and just various measures to make sure that we're mitigating any of those," Ross said.
When asked whether diseases like typhus remain a constant concern for animal welfare organizations, Ross emphasized the importance of staying vigilant.
"Those types of diseases are things that we absolutely keep in mind that way we can keep not only our pets safe but our humans safe as well," she said.
Staff at Aggieland Humane Society encourage pet owners to keep their animals up to date on flea and tick treatments to help protect both animals and people from flea-borne diseases.
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