1086 



MANUAL OF DETERMINATIVE BACTERIOLOGY 



typhi Wolbach and Todd (not Tood), 

 Ann. Inst. Past., 34, 1920, 158; minute 

 intracellular bodies, Mooser, Jour. Inf. 

 Dis., 43, 1928, 261 ; Rickettsia manchuriae 

 Kodama, Takahashi and Kono, Saiking- 

 aku-Zasshi (Jap.), No. 426, 427, Aug. 

 and Sept., 1931; see Kodama, Kono and 

 Takahashi bibliography, Kitasato Arch. 

 Exper. Med., 9, 1932, 95; Rickettsia 

 mooseri Monteiro, Mem. Inst. Butantan, 



6, 1931, 97 (pub. July, 1932), see do 

 Amaral and Monteiro, bibliography, ibid., 



7, 1932, 367; Rickettsia exanthematofebri 

 Kodama, Kitasato Arch. Exp. Med., 9, 

 1932, 360; Rickettsia muricola Monteiro 

 and Fonseca, Brazil Med., 46, 1932, 1032; 

 Rickettsia murina and Rickettsia fletch- 

 eri Megaw, Trans. Roy. Soc. Trop. 

 Med. Hyg., 29, 1935, 105; Rickettsia 

 prowazeki var. mooseri Pinkerton, Para- 

 sitology, £8, 1936, 185; Rickettsia prowa- 

 zeki sub-species typhi Philip, Amer. 

 Jour. Hyg., 37, 1943, 304; Rickettsia typhi 

 Philip, idem; not Rickettsia typhi do 

 Amaral and Monteiro, Rev. Sud. Am^r. 

 de M^d. et Chirug., 4, 1933, 806.) From 

 M. L. typhus, typhus. 



Resembles Rickettsia prowazekii in 

 morphological and staining properties. 

 Non-motile. Gram-negative. 



Cultivation : May be cultivated in 

 plasma tissue culture of mammalian 

 cells, in modified Maitland media with 

 and without agar, in fleas, in the peri- 

 toneal cavity of X-rayed rats, in the 

 lungs of white mice and in white rats 

 following intranasal inoculation, in the 

 lungs of rabbits following intratracheal 

 inoculation, in the chorio-allantoic mem- 

 brane and the yolk sac of the chick 

 embryo. 



Optimum temperature 35°C in chick 

 embryo cells. 



Immunology : Prolonged immunity in 

 man and animals following infection. 

 Complete cross immunity between epi- 

 demic and endemic typhus in guinea 

 pigs recovered from infections with 

 Rickettsia protmzekii and Rickettsia 

 typhi. No cross immunity between en- 



demic typhus and Rocky Mountain 

 spotted fever, Q fever or tsutsugamushi 

 disease in guinea pigs. 



Serology: Distinguishable from the 

 rickettsiae of spotted fever, Q fever and 

 tsutsugamushi disease by complement 

 fixation, agglutination and precipitin 

 tests, less readily from R. prowazekii by 

 these tests. Has common antigenic fac- 

 tor with Proteus 0X19, and soluble 

 antigen in yolk-sac cultures. 



Lethal effect: Heavily infected yolk 

 sac cultures injected intravenously or 

 intraperitoneally fatal to white mice in 

 a few hours. 



Pathogenicity : Pathogenic for man, 

 apes, monkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, 

 white rats, eastern cotton rat, white 

 mice, gerbilles. Other susceptible ani- 

 mals include the woodchuck, house 

 mouse, meadow mouse, white-footed 

 mouse, old-field mouse, cotton mouse, 

 golden mouse, wild rat (Rattus norvegi- 

 cus), wood rat, rice rat, flying squirrel, 

 gray squirrel, fox squirrel, gophers, cot- 

 ton-tail rabbit, swamp rabbit, chipmunk, 

 skunk, opossum and cat. A characteris- 

 tic febrile reaction occurs in the guinea 

 pig with testicular swelling without 

 ulceration, after intraperitoneal inocula- 

 tion. Passage in guinea pigs is accom- 

 plished by transfer of testicular wash- 

 ings or blood from infected animals. 

 Cause of a febrile disease with exanthema 

 in man, with low mortality. 



Source : Seen by Wolbach and Todd 

 {loc. cit.) in the endothelial cells of the 

 capillaries, arterioles and veins in sec- 

 tions of skin from cases of Mexican 

 typhus (tabardillo). Also described by 

 Mooser {loc. cit.) in sections and smears 

 of the proliferated tunica vaginalis of 

 guinea pigs reacting to the virus of Mexi- 

 can typhus. 



Habitat: Infected rat fleas {Xeno- 

 psylla cheopis, Xenopsylla astia), in- 

 fected chicken fleas {Echidnophaga galli- 

 nacea) found on wild rats, and the rat 

 louse {Polyplax spinulosiis) . Wild rats 

 and field mice act as the reservoir of 

 infection. The etiological agent of en- 



