Mexican health officials are taking measures to prevent the spread of a tick-borne disease new to the border state. As KPBS Reporter Amy Isackson tells us Baja health officials say they’ve confirmed 155 cases of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and five deaths from the disease.
Mexican health officials say it’s the first time they’ve detected Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in Baja.
U-S Centers for Disease Control officials who’ve been working with Baja epidemiologists say the Brown Dog Tick is to blame.
CDC officials say the tick primarily lives on dogs and humans generally get sick when the stray dog population increases and dogs aren’t treated for ticks.
People only get the disease if an infected tick bites them.
Of the 155 cases Baja health officials have logged since February, just one case was in Tijuana, the rest in Mexicali.
To help prevent the spread, fumigators plan to spray 18-thousand Mexicali homes.
Animal control officials are rounding up stray dogs in some Tijuana neighborhoods.
San Diego County Health officials say there’s little concern the disease could bloom in San Diego since most dogs are treated for ticks.
