CHAPTER LII 



RAT-BITE AND CAT-BITE FEVERS 



Rat-bite fever — Cat-bite fever — Squirrel-bite disease — Addendum— References. 



RAT-BITE FEVER. 



Synonyms. — Sodoku (So = rat, doku=bite); Fievre par Morsure de rat 

 Morso-di-Topo ; Rattenbisskrankheit. ; Rattenbeetziekte. 



Definition. — relapsing fever of long duration characterized by 

 redness and swelling at the site of a rat -bite, often by a generalized 

 papular eruption, and caused by Spiroschaudinnia morsusmuris 

 Futaki, Takaki, Taniguchi, and Osumi, 1916, living in the mouth 

 of Epimys norvegicMS Erxleben, 1777, in many parts of the world, 

 and inoculated by means of their bite. 



History. — ^Rat-bite fever is mentioned in Japanese tnedical books 

 from the most ancient times, and Scotch, French, and Spanish 

 literature have references to the disease, but it was not until 

 Katsura in 1890 and Miyake in 1899 reported cases that any interest 

 was taken in the malady. In 1908 some twenty-one Japanese 

 investigators, according to Hora, had reported some thirty cases, 

 which have recently been increased very considerably. It has also 

 been recorded by Horder in England; by Proescher in the United 

 States, in which the literature of the nineteenth century shows 

 occasional cases among settlers; by Frugoni in Italy, who has 

 given a very good general account of the malady, and by Lou and 

 Cockin from East Africa. As we stated under this heading in the 

 first edition of this book, there is a curious belief in Ceylon that a 

 rat's bite is a serious injury, and is apt to be followed by a chronic 

 disorder which is popularly called leprosy, but which we have never 

 been able to see. In Ceylon the belief is that the rat's bite is only 

 pernicious in the breeding season. And in Japan Hora's case is 

 stated to have been due to a bite of a female rat which was suckling 

 its young. It is said that the same disease may follow the bite of 

 a weasel, and it is known that weasels kill rats, and therefore it is 

 possible that infection may come in this manner to the weasel. 



In 1898 Millot and Carpentier, and in 1907 Roger, drew attention 

 to the existence of the disease in France. 



In 1908 Ogata considered that the causal organism was a sporo- 

 zoon (Kattengift sporozoon). In 1914 Schottmiiller obtained a 

 nocardia, which he called Streptothrix murisratti, from the blood of 

 cases of the disease. This organism has been supported by the 

 observations and experiments of Blake and others, but is now 

 merely of historical interest. Douglas, Colebrook, and Fleming, 



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