The Week in Mexico

2:00 a.m. May 24, 2009

Rocky Mountain spotted fever: Stray dogs were rounded up in Tijuana and buildings were fumigated to try to prevent a breakout of Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Brown dog ticks infected scores of people this year in Mexicali, leaving at least five children dead. At least one case has been recorded in Tijuana. The brown dog tick is a relatively new vector for Rocky Mountain spotted fever; The New England Journal of Medicine found 16 patients infected in eastern Arizona from 2002-04, after only three cases were reported from 1981-2001 for the entire state. All 16 had had contact with tick-infested dogs. In Mexicali, El Universal newspaper reported that 8,000 homes and schools were fumigated. Also, more than 1,000 dogs were killed in the city.

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