CDC Warns of Deadly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Mexico

Three of five recent U.S. patients died; all had traveled to or lived in Tecate, Baja California, Mexico.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a warning about new cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF), a severe and often deadly disease transmitted by ticks, after five U.S. residents contracted the disease since July.
All of the patients had either travelled to, or previously resided in, the Tecate area of the Mexican state of Baja California, within two weeks of manifesting symptoms.
Three of the five patients, all identified in southern California, died from the disease.
The CDC is advising people to check themselves, their pets, and their children for ticks, and is urging healthcare providers to administer treatment with the antibiotic Doxycycline for patients who have recently traveled to northern Mexico and develop severe febrile illness.
RMSF is endemic across northern Mexico and areas of the southwestern United States, and while it is commonly associated with tick-born transmission, many of those infected do not recall being bitten.

CDC Warns of Deadly Rocky Mountain Spotted FeverMexico