CDC Launches New Protocol For Early Detection Of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

By Holliday Moore
Published: Monday, May 13, 2019 - 8:36am
Updated: Monday, May 13, 2019 - 3:37pm
CDC
A female adult brown dog tick (Rhipicephalus sanguineus).

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen a record number of tick-borne diseases. That's spurred the CDC to launch a new protocol for recognizing a strain found here in the Southwest.

The first-of-its-kind education module helps clinicians recognize and diagnose the sometimes deadly Rocky Mountain spotted fever at its earlier stages.

Dr. Robert Redfield, with the CDC said, with training, medical professionals will be better equipped to differentiate symptoms of the tick-borne fever from other diseases.

In 2017, the CDC reported 6,248 spotted fever cases up sharply from 4,269 cases the year prior. Those reported cases were among the very small percentage that could be confirmed.

When caught early enough, patients can fully recover after being treated with antibiotics.

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