Signs/Symptoms may include:
Fever
Chills
Headache
Confusion
Cough
Rapid Breathing
Body/Muscle Aches
Rash
Nausea
VomitingAfter 5–6 days, a macular skin eruption develops: first on the upper trunk and spreading to the rest of the body (rarely to the face, palms, or soles of the feet, however).Brill–Zinsser disease, first described by Nathan Brill in 1913 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, is a mild form of epidemic typhus that recurs in someone after a long period of latency (similar to the relationship between chickenpox and shingles). This recurrence often arises in times of relative immunosuppression, which is often in the context of a person suffering malnutrition or other illnesses. In combination with poor sanitation and hygiene in times of social chaos and upheaval, which enable a greater density of lice, this reactivation is why typhus generates epidemics in such conditions. Complications
Complications are as follows
Myocarditis
Endocarditis
Mycotic aneurysm
Pneumonia
Pancreatitis
Kidney or bladder infections
Acute renal failure
Meningitis
Encephalitis
Myelitis
Septic shock

Transmission
Feeding on a human who carries the bacterium infects the louse. R. prowazekii grows in the louses gut and is excreted in its feces. The louse transmits the disease by biting an uninfected human, who scratches the louse bite (which itches) and rubs the feces into the wound. The incubation period is one to two weeks. R. prowazekii can remain viable and virulent in the dried louse feces for many days. Typhus will eventually kill the louse, though the disease will remain viable for many weeks in the dead louse.Epidemic typhus has historically occurred during times of war and deprivation.
During World War II, there were three kinds of potentially useful killed vaccines. All three killed vaccines relied on the cultivation of Rickettsia prowazekii, the organism responsible for typhus. The first attempt at a killed vaccine was developed by Germany, using the Rickettsia prowazekii found in louse feces. The vaccine was tested extensively in Poland between the two world wars and used by the Germans for their troops during their attacks on the Soviet Union.A second method of growing Rickettsia prowazekii was discovered using the yolk sac of chick embryos. Germans tried several times to use this technique of growing Rickettsia prowazekii but no effort was pushed very far.The last technique was an extended development of the previously known method of growing murine typhus in rodents. It was discovered that rabbits could be infected, by a similar process, and contract classical typhus instead of murine typhus. Again, while proven to produce suitable Rickettsia prowazekii for vaccine development, this method was not used to produce wartime vaccines.During WWII, the two major vaccines available were the killed vaccine grown in lice and the live vaccine from France. Neither was used much during the war. The killed, louse-grown vaccine was difficult to manufacture in large enough quantities, and the French vaccine was not believed to be safe enough for use.The Germans worked to develop their own live vaccine from the urine of typhus victims. While developing a live vaccine, Germany used live Rickettsia prowazekii to test multiple possible vaccines capabilities.