Two recovering from rare form of typhus

Two Orange County residents who contracted what is believed to be a rare disease spread by fleas are recovering at home, health officials said Friday.

They would not identify the victims, but said one lives in Los Alamitos and the other in Huntington Beach.

Both were hospitalized last month for treatment of murine typhus. The disease is transmitted by fleas generally carried by opossums, rodents and feral cats, said Deanne Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Health Care Agency. The disease, which can be fatal, had not been seen in Orange County since 1993, she said.