Noneruptive Fever Revealing Murine Typhus in a Traveler Returning From Tunisia

Laura Gastellier (1, 2, 3, 4) , Fanny Lanternier (3, 1, 2, 4) , Aurélie Renvoisé (5) , Sébastien Rivière (3, 1, 2, 4) , Didier Raoult (5) , Olivier Lortholary (3, 1, 2, 4) , Marc Lecuit (3, 6, 4, 7, 2)

1 Centre d'infectiologie Necker-Pasteur [CHU Necker]
2 Imagine - U1163 - Imagine - Institut des maladies génétiques (IHU)
3 UPD5 - Université Paris Descartes - Paris 5
4 Service des Maladies infectieuses et tropicales [CHU Necker]
5 Centre National de Référence des Rickettsies, Coxiella et Bartonella
6 CHU Necker - Enfants Malades [AP-HP]
7 Biologie des Infections - Biology of Infection

Rickettsia species are increasingly being recognized as a cause of infection among returning travelers. Murine typhus (MT) was mistakenly thought to have disappeared in the 1970s in Tunisia, yet recent serological data show that Rickettsia typhi, the causative agent of MT, still circulates in the Tunisian population. We report here a case of MT in a woman returning from Tunisia and hospitalized in France. Her presentation was nonspecific, with acute noneruptive fever. Diagnosis was confirmed by cross-adsorption and immunoblotting. Clinicians taking care of returning travelers with fever should be aware of MT, and know how to diagnose and treat it.

Keywords: rickettsia; diagnosis; traveler; endemic typhus; fever; immunoblotting; tunisia; rickettsia typhi; infection

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases; Microbiology and Parasitology; Bacteriology

Laura Gastellier, Fanny Lanternier, Aurélie Renvoisé, Sébastien Rivière, Didier Raoult, et al.. Noneruptive Fever Revealing Murine Typhus in a Traveler Returning From Tunisia. Journal of Travel Medicine, 2015, 22 (1), pp.67-69. ⟨10.1111/jtm.12154⟩. ⟨pasteur-02395719⟩