Flea infestation temporarily closes tax office

Cat fleas are the most common fleas that cause infestations in Texas. They commonly feed on dogs and cats and also infest raccoons, opossums and coyotes.
Texas A&M Agrilife

The Daily Sentinel
BY JOSH EDWARDS Staff Writer

The Nacogdoches County tax office reopened Friday morning after being closed Thursday because of a flea infestation.

Tax Assessor-Collector Kim Morton temporarily closed the office Thursday when the fleas were discovered.

“It has been isolated and sealed off,” County Judge Greg Sowell said Thursday. “It is isolated to that one area, and that’s the way we want to keep it.”

Exterminators eradicated the fleas Thursday afternoon. How the bloodsucking pests got into the building is unclear, said Sowell who decided it was better to stay away and let pest control handle the situation.

“I didn’t dare go down there,” he said. “But I heard that as soon as you walked in they swarmed all over you.”

An employee who answered the phone at the tax office Friday morning said services had resumed as normal. 

In Texas, most flea infestations are caused by a species commonly known as cat fleas, according to the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension service.

Those types of fleas do not typically carry serious diseases like typhus or plague.

Fleas infestations in public buildings aren’t unheard of in recent years. Since 2019, flea outbreaks have been reported in a variety of public libraries, courthouses and city halls across the nation.

Most notably, Los Angels, California, had a typhus outbreak in 2019 linked to a rat and flea infestation at city hall.

Typhus and plague are carried by several species of fleas, especially those that fead on rodents.

Though operations resumed Friday, the tax office and other county offices will be closed Monday for the Juneteenth federal holiday.

Josh Edwards' email is josh.edwards@dailysentinel.com.