A single bite from a flea has left a Texas man’s life forever changed.
Michael Kohlhof, a 35-year-old Houston resident, had both of his hands amputated up to the forearm this month after contracting a form of typhus from a flea bite.
Typhus fevers are caused by a range of bacteria carried by different parasites, such as chiggers, lice, and fleas.
Chiggers are known to spread scrub typhus, lice can spread epidemic typhus, and fleas spread murine typhus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Murine typhus is caused by the bacteria Rickettsia typhi and is spread directly by infected fleas biting a human or animal. This disease cannot be transferred between people.
Infections of this variant typically occur in tropical and subtropical areas but can occur in certain regions of the United States, including Texas. Symptoms of this affliction include nausea, rash, vomiting, coughing, and more.
A GoFundMe set up by J’Leene Hardaway, Kohlhof’s mother, revealed that he had first been hospitalized on June 19 for what was originally thought to be the flu.
However, he was later transferred to intensive care when he went into septic shock. The next day, Kohlhof’s organs began to fail, and doctors used several types of medication and medical devices, such as vasopressors, to save his life.
Doctors confirmed that the reason for his sepsis was the contraction of typhus through a flea bite on his hand.
Family members were eventually told to come to the hospital to say their goodbyes. However, Kohlhof miraculously pulled through and awoke 11 days later on July 1.
Although Kohlhof’s life had been preserved, his hands and feet suffered greatly since the blood supply to these extremities had been cut off, resulting in a condition known as dry gangrene. The lower halves of both his arms were amputated on July 20.
Kohlhof is expected to undergo hyperbaric oxygen chamber treatments to preserve as much tissue as possible. However, it is currently unknown whether his feet can be saved.
“Michael has strength and will be undergoing an excruciating number of surgeries, therapies, and rehabilitation, mostly to restore activities of daily living. But he shouldn’t have to be worried about the financial pain,” wrote Hardaway in the GoFundMe.
This funding page had raised over $80,000 of its $300,000 goal as of Monday.
There is currently no vaccine for flea-borne murine typhus, but severe cases like Kohlhof’s are rare, according to the CDC.
To limit exposure to fleas that may carry this disease, CDC officials recommend using vet-approved flea control methods on pets and refraining from contact with stray or wild animals.
As recently reported in The Dallas Express, a retired Plano police officer and school security specialist named Larry Frazier had both legs amputated after complications arose following an injury to his toe in February. The community came together to support renovations to his house in light of this life-changing development, with the GoFundMe set up by his family having raised $24,500 of its $27,500 goal so far.
