San Diego Resident Dies from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Following a Tick Bite

San Diego Resident Dies from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever Following a Tick Bite

Public health officials are warning the public to be aware of tickborne illnesses after a San Diego resident died from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

A San Diego resident traveled to the Baja California region before becoming sick and later dying, the County of San Diego Communications Office reported Tuesday. They did not specify an exact timeline.

This is prompting San Diego County public health officials to raise awareness of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

Humans and dogs can contract the disease from a tick bite. Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is treated with antibiotics most efficiently when a person is diagnosed within the first week. Those with the disease can develop a spotted red rash. Early symptoms include fever, headaches, and stomach upset, so health officials warn anyone with insect bites or who recently traveled to report it to a doctor.

While there are 1-3 cases in the San Diego area annually, the large reason for the concern is that the species of ticks have become more aggressive in targeting dogs…which then become infested with diseased ticks that, in turn, latch onto their owners.  While those infected respond to antibiotic treatment if the disease is caught early, severe cases can cause loss of limbs and nerve damage.  Infection is potentially fatal.

The Washington Post did a detailed report on the emerging threat.

The disease, spread through the bite of an infected tick that lives primarily on dogs, is rare, but its incidence is rising. It has reemerged at epidemic levels in northern Mexico, where more than 2,000 cases, resulting in hundreds of deaths, have been reported in the past five years. Young children have been hit the hardest. In the Mexican state of Baja California, where Ejido Padre Kino is located, there were 92 cases in 2022, more than double the previous year, according to state data.

…The spread of Rocky Mountain spotted fever is hard to predict, Backus said, because it often simmers undetected, erupts, then disappears again. Originally called “black measles” — a rash in the disease’s late stages often turns the skin black — it is one of the deadliest tick-borne diseases in the Americas.

The bacterium that causes it — Rickettsia rickettsii, commonly spread by tick species that feed on wildlife in predominantly wooded areas — is present in almost every U.S. state. But scientists were surprised to discover the brown dog tick — which lives around and inside homes where dogs are present — as a new vector for the disease in the United States in 2003.

Since then, nearly 500 cases and 28 deaths have been reported on tribal lands in Arizona, CDC officials said. In California, 88 cases were reported between 2013 and 2022, more than triple the 26 cases reported the previous decade, according to state data.

Given the border situation, any disease surging through Northern Mexico must be taken seriously.

Of course, The Washington Post had to inject a great deal of “climate crisis” narrative into the report to explain the regional surge in Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. However, viruses, bacteria, and other pathogens are always evolving in an attempt to thrive and survive. Or, to quote the character of Dr. Ian Malcom in the movie Jurassic Park: “If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us it’s that life will not be contained. Life breaks free, it expands to new territories and crashes through barriers, painfully, maybe even dangerously.”

It is tragic that the billions we have spent in the losing battle against COVID-19 when it could have been used to mitigate the spread of these ticks in Mexico, develop a real vaccine that could be trusted to work or create more effective treatments for the later stages of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

So, if you live in the region or plan to travel there, it would be a good idea to brush up on how to prevent getting bitten by ticks:

• Know the risks before you go.
• Wear clothing and use gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin.
• Use insect repellent.
• Avoid wooded and brush-filled areas with high grass and leaf litter
• Walk in the center of trails.
• Check clothing, gear, and pets after being in areas where ticks may be present.
• Shower within 2 hours of returning from activity in an area where ticks are known to be present.
• Check yourself for ticks.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.