LAFAYETTE, La. — Health officials in Louisiana are alerting residents and physicians to a significant increase in flea-borne typhus infections, with most of the confirmed cases concentrated in the Acadiana and Lafayette area. Since the beginning of 2025, the state has recorded 17 confirmed cases. Every case required hospitalization, and two patients have died.
According to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners, the true case count is likely higher. Flea-borne typhus is not currently a reportable condition under Louisiana’s State Sanitary Code, meaning physicians are not required to document and report it, and many infections may go undetected or be misdiagnosed due to limited awareness.
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Why Acadiana Is at the Center of the Outbreak
The majority of cases in the current outbreak were reported in LDH Region 4, which includes Lafayette and the surrounding Acadiana parishes. State officials have noted that the concentration may partly reflect reporting bias, with physicians in the region more attuned to the diagnosis, but they have also acknowledged that the increase represents a genuine rise in infections.
Louisiana recorded just 21 total cases between 2010 and 2024. The state has nearly matched that 14-year total in the past year and a half. Cases have historically been identified in multiple regions across Louisiana, but the current outbreak has hit Acadiana harder than anywhere else in the state.
Officials also noted that expanded use of metagenomic sequencing tests, a newer diagnostic tool, may be contributing to increased detection of cases that would previously have gone unidentified.
What Flea-Borne Typhus Is and How It Spreads
Flea-borne typhus, also known as murine or endemic typhus, is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia typhi. The disease does not spread from person to person. Infection occurs when flea feces containing the bacteria enter the body through scratched skin or flea bites, are rubbed into the eyes or other mucous membranes, or are inhaled as contaminated dust…