Biomaterial Database

Epidemic typhus meningitis in the southwestern United States. 2001

R F Massung, and L E Davis, and K Slater, and D B McKechnie, and M Puerzer

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, Atlanta, GA, 30333 USA. rfm2@cdc.gov

A patient residing in New Mexico had murine typhus diagnosed. A novel molecular assay was performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Rickettsia prowazekii, the agent of epidemic typhus, was found, rather than R. typhi. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of epidemic typhus confirmed by means of polymerase chain reaction--based testing of cerebrospinal fluid, and it introduces a novel assay for the molecular diagnosis of both epidemic and murine typhus.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D004269	DNA, Bacterial	Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.	Bacterial DNA
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012283	Rickettsia prowazekii	A species of gram-negative, aerobic bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus fever acquired through contact with lice (TYPHUS, EPIDEMIC LOUSE-BORNE) as well as Brill's disease.
D014438	Typhus, Epidemic Louse-Borne	The classic form of typhus, caused by RICKETTSIA PROWAZEKII, which is transmitted from man to man by the louse Pediculus humanus corporis. This disease is characterized by the sudden onset of intense headache, malaise, and generalized myalgia followed by the formation of a macular skin eruption and vascular and neurologic disturbances.	Brill's Disease,Brill-Zinsser Disease,Typhus,Brill Disease,Epidemic Typhus,Jail Fever,Louse-Borne Typhus,Rickettsia prowazekii Infection,Brill Zinsser Disease,Brills Disease,Epidemic Louse-Borne Typhus,Fever, Jail,Infection, Rickettsia prowazekii,Louse Borne Typhus,Louse-Borne Typhus, Epidemic,Rickettsia prowazekii Infections,Typhus, Epidemic,Typhus, Epidemic Louse Borne,Typhus, Louse-Borne
D015206	Southwestern United States	The geographic area of the southwestern region of the United States. The states usually included in this region are Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah.	Southwest U.S.,Southwest US
D016133	Polymerase Chain Reaction	In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.	Anchored PCR,Inverse PCR,Nested PCR,PCR,Anchored Polymerase Chain Reaction,Inverse Polymerase Chain Reaction,Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction,PCR, Anchored,PCR, Inverse,PCR, Nested,Polymerase Chain Reactions,Reaction, Polymerase Chain,Reactions, Polymerase Chain
D016920	Meningitis, Bacterial	Bacterial infections of the leptomeninges and subarachnoid space, frequently involving the cerebral cortex, cranial nerves, cerebral blood vessels, spinal cord, and nerve roots.	Bacterial Meningitis,Bacterial Meningitides,Meningitides, Bacterial