RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Murine typhus mistaken for COVID-19 in a young man JF BMJ Case Reports JO BMJ Case Reports FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd SP e239471 DO 10.1136/bcr-2020-239471 VO 13 IS 11 A1 Hemesh Mahesh Patel YR 2020 UL http://casereports.bmj.com/content/13/11/e239471.abstract AB Fever is a widely recognised presenting symptom of COVID-19. Consequently, other febrile illnesses may be difficult to distinguish from COVID-19—leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment. One such illness is murine typhus, a fleaborne illness with worldwide distribution caused by Rickettsia typhi. It often presents with fever, headache and myalgia, all of which have been commonly reported with COVID-19. Although the disease is usually mild with a good prognosis, there have been reports of severe illness and death. I present a case of murine typhus in a young male who had 2 weeks of headaches and daily fevers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was ultimately tested for murine typhus when his occupation as a dog trainer was queried, and he experienced resolution of symptoms after treatment with doxycycline. During this pandemic, clinicians must be vigilant of other febrile illnesses whose symptoms overlap with COVID-19.