| murine typhus: an unrecognized suburban vectorborne disease. | murine typhus, an acute febrile illness caused by rickettsia typhi, is distributed worldwide. mainly transmitted by the fleas of rodents, it is associated with cities and ports where urban rats (rattus rattus and rattus norvegicus) are abundant. in the united states, cases are concentrated in suburban areas of texas and california. contrary to the classic rat-flea-rat cycle, the most important reservoirs of infection in these areas are opossums and cats. the cat flea, ctenocephalides felis, has ... | 2008 | 18260783 |