Webster's New World Medical Dictionary

typhus, classic
See 
typhus, epidemic.
typhus, endemic
See 
typhus, murine.
typhus, epidemic
A severe, acute disease with
prolonged high fever up to 40° C (104° F),
intractable headache, and a pink-to-red raised rash.
The cause is a microorganism called Rickettsia
prowazekii, which is found worldwide and is trans-
mitted by lice. The lice become infected on typhus
patients and transmit illness to other people. The
mortality increases with age, and more than half of
untreated persons age 50 or older die. Also known
as European, classic, or louse-borne typhus and as
jail fever. See also 
rickettsial diseases.
typhus, European
See 
typhus, epidemic.
typhus, louse-borne
See 
typhus, epidemic.
typhus, mite-borne
See 
typhus, scrub.
typhus, murine
An acute infectious disease char-
acterized by fever, headache, and rash that are simi-
lar to, but milder than, those in epidemic typhus.
Murine typhus is caused by the microorganism
Rickettsia typhi (mooseri) and transmitted to
humans by rat fleas (Xenopsylla cheopis). The ani-
mal reservoir includes rats, mice, and other rodents.
Murine typhus occurs sporadically worldwide but is
most prevalent in congested, rat-infested urban
areas. Also known as endemic typhus, rat-flea
typhus, and urban typhus of Malaya. See also 
rick-
ettsial diseases.
typhus, Queensland tick
One of the tick-borne
rickettsial diseases of the eastern hemisphere, simi-
lar to Rocky Mountain spotted fever but less severe.
Symptoms include fever, a small ulcer (eschar) at
the site of the tick bite, swollen glands near the site
of the tick bite (satellite lymphadenopathy), and a
red, raised (maculopapular) rash. See also 
rick-
ettsial diseases.
typhus, scrub
A mite-borne infectious disease
that is caused by the microorganism Orientia (for-
merly Rickettsia) tsutsugamushi. Characteristic
symptoms include fever, headache, a raised (macu-
lar) rash, swollen glands (lymphadenopathy), and a
dark crusted ulcer, called an eschar or tache noire,
at the site of the chigger (mite larva) bite. Scrub
typhus occurs in the area bounded by Japan, India,
and Australia. Also known as Tsutsugamushi dis-
ease, mite-borne typhus, and tropical typhus. See
also 
rickettsial diseases.