What is typhus fever?
Typhus fever is a potentially fatal, infectious disease caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii. Also known as epidemic typhus, this disease is transmitted to humans by body lice. Though it has occurred on all continents throughout the world except Australia, typhus fever is not common in the United States. Who gets typhus fever? Anyone can get typhus fever, though it is most likely to occur among people living in overcrowded, dirty conditions, with few opportunities to wash themselves or their clothing. As a result typhus fever often occurs when cold weather, poverty, war, and other disasters result in close living conditions where body lice can thrive and spread.
