A new study suggests cat fleas may be playing an unexpected role in the spread of murine typhus, a flea-borne disease that has reemerged in parts of Texas.
According to a report by Newsweek, researchers at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences found cat fleas carrying Rickettsia typhi, the bacterium that causes murine typhus.
The study also detected the bacterium in six of 167 domesticated cats tested in the Rio Grande Valley…