A 12-year-old boy died after an agonising two weeks of fighting for his life against a rare infection caused by a horrific lice infestation.

Amador Flores Vargas, from Sabinas, in the Mexican state of Coahuila, developed rickettsiosis, a typhus-spreading bacterial infection transmitted by blood-sucking bugs.

Horrified family members reportedly rushed Amador to the region's Mother and Child Hospital with an out-of-control fever and severe dehydration.

Amador Flores Vargas, 12, poses in undated photo. He died from a tick bite in Saltillo hospital, Mexico, June 2, 2025. The tick transmitted rickettsiosis. Note: Private photo taken from social media. (Newsflash/NX)

Medics found he was already suffering from advanced liver failure and septic shock caused by a massive louse infestation.

Despite emergency antibiotic treatment, hospital director Francisco Iribarren said, Amador's condition rapidly worsened and he died on 2nd June.

The local authorities have imposed a sanitary cordon on the family's neighbourhood to prevent the parasite from spreading, with a pest extermination team searching for further infestations.

Rickettsiosis refers to a group of infectious diseases caused by bacteria from the Rickettsia genus, typically spread to humans through the bites of ticks, fleas, lice, or mites.

If left untreated, these diseases can become severe or even life-threatening, with symptoms including fever, headache, rash, and others.

(Joseph Golder / newsX)