Tick-borne spotted fever outbreak in Emek Hefer kindergarten raises alarm over delays

A mother from Emek Hefer, Tamar Spiegel, says her daughter was diagnosed with spotted fever only after a difficult medical search and several wrong diagnoses. The girl developed a very high fever that would not go down, and although a rash appeared, the first doctor blamed mosquito bites and another suggested bedbugs. Only after Spiegel insisted on going to the emergency room was the correct diagnosis made, which she later understood was caused by a tick bite. Spiegel said the experience immediately reminded her of musician Meir Ariel, who died from the same disease when it was not treated in time, and added, “This is a very dangerous disease.”

Even after the diagnosis, Spiegel struggled to obtain the needed antibiotic in syrup form for children. Prof. Eitan Friedman, a genetics expert, said spotted fever can be fatal if treatment is delayed, explaining that “it can endanger lives” and that antibiotics must be started within the first five days after symptoms appear. He emphasized that the disease does not spread from person to person, only through ticks, and said the key signs are high fever, muscle pain, and a later rash, especially on the palms and soles. His advice was explicit: if those symptoms appear, do not wait for lab results and begin antibiotic treatment.

The Health Ministry said the syrup version is not a registered product in Israel and is supplied only through import or preparation, which can take several days. That created a practical obstacle for parents trying to treat children quickly. The outbreak also exposed a gap between the official response and parents’ accounts of what happened on the ground.

The Emek Hefer Regional Council said that once concern arose, it acted without delay, moved the children to alternative buildings, and carried out pest-control measures in the kindergartens. Spiegel gave a different account, saying it took five days before the council sent an exterminator and that parents were considering organizing and hiring one themselves while children were still attending the kindergarten.