Human Cases 2010 through 2019

DISCLOSURE: All Zoonosis webpages are under construction temporarily until all content issues are corrected.

Zoonotic Diseases*

Zoonoses are diseases transmissible from animals to humans. Although there are over 150 recognized zoonoses, those of significance to Texas include:

Disease 2010  2011  2012  2013  2014  2015  2016  2017  2018 2019
Anaplasmosis 3 2 1 0 3 3 1 2 4  4
Anthrax 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Babesiosis NR NR NR 1 1 1 1 0 2 2
Brucellosis 21 11 18 11 15 23 43 26 18  44
California Encephalitis1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 1  0
Chagas Disease NR NR NR 19 20 25 27 33  32  28
Chikungunya NR NR NR NR 114 55 20 15 7  19
Cysticercosis 6 9 10 7 16 14 16 10 12  14
Dengue 19 7 16 95 34 32 45 43 20  74
Eastern Equine Encephalitis  0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Echinococcosis  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  2  0 2  1
Ehrlichiosis 3 4 4 8 12 8 15 17 9  9
Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis2 NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  1  0  0  0
Hantavirus Infection  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0
Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome 1 0 0 1 5 2 0 2 0  0
Japanese Encephalitis 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Leishmaniasis 0 4 6 11 12 6 13 8 15  10
Lyme Disease 142 74 75 82 40 54 71 66 47  42
Malaria 98 102 102 89 106 99 159 158  144  159
Plague 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Q-Fever 12 19 12 20 12 13 19 20 22  19
Rabies in Humans  0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0  0
Rickettsiosis, unspecified3  NR  NR   NR   NR  NR  4  13  9  12  19
Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis4 34 52 77 83 94 61 87 106 76  23
St Louis Encephalitis 3 0 3 1 4 0 0 0 0  0
Taenia infection    1 1 1 0 1 6 2 1  1  3
Tick-borne Relapsing Fever5 0  0  0  0  0  1  NR 7  2  1
Trichinosis 0 2 1 0 2 4 4 0 0  0
Tularemia 1 0 0 1 0 1 3 1 0  0
Typhus 135 286 263 222 308 324 364 519  738  591
West Nile Disease 89 27 1868 183 379 275 370 135 146  32
     West Nile Encephalitis 77 20 844 113 253 196 252 87 108  24
     West Nile Fever 12 7 1024 70 126 79 118 48 38  8
Yellow Fever 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Zika Virus Disease NR  NR  NR  NR  NR  8  315 55 4  2

NOTE: These data reflect only those cases reported to the Department of State Health Services. The actual incidence of these diseases in the state may be higher.
1California encephalitis/meningitis refers to all California serogroup viruses. California serogroup includes California encephalitis, Jamestown Canyon, Keystone, La Crosse, snowshoe hare, and trivittatus virus.
2Denotes “Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis – undetermined,” used when a case has compatible clinical criteria with laboratory evidence to support infection, but without sufficient clarity to identify the causative organism as E. chaffeensis, A. phagocytophilum, or E. ewingii.



3Rickettsiosis, unspecified replaced "dual reporting" in typhus/spotted fever cases in 2015.
4The case definition for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever was changed to Spotted Fever Rickettsiosis in 2010 to capture cases due to other spotted fever Group Rickettsia species, such as Rickettsia parkeri. Commonly available serologic tests are unable to differentiate between spotted fever group Rickettsia species.
5Tick-borne Relapsing Fever was not a reportable condition from 2016-2020; cases were reported during these years in the reporting category of "outbreak, exotic disease, or unusual group expression of disease that may be of public health concern."
 NR = Not Reportable. 
Human Cases of Reportable Zoonotic Diseases in Texas 2010-2019

Zoonotic Diseases*

More information about zoonotic diseases in Texas can be found in the alphabetized list below.

A

B

C

D

E

F G H

L

M

N O P

Q

R

S

T

V

W

Z

*The purpose of surveillance is to try to detect where disease organisms, such as bacteria and viruses, occur in Texas. Rabies surveillance for example is basically an observation or watch for the virus that causes rabies. When an animal is exhibiting the signs of rabies, the brain may be submitted to an approved laboratory for testing. Animals that have bitten or otherwise may have exposed a person or a domestic animal to the virus should also be tested. If an animal is positive, it means that the virus was found during testing. If an animal is negative, it means that the virus was not found during testing. Similar surveillance is conducted on samples from animals for a variety of diseases. The amount of testing in the surveillance process will vary for different counties statewide. If a report indicates that an area does not have any positive test results for a particular disease, it does not necessarily mean that the disease organisms are not in that area. It just reflects the fact that either there were no samples submitted from that area or that submitted samples were negative.

Zoonosis Control

Zoonosis Control

Human Cases