Rat-Bite Fever in Laboratory Personnel

Rat bite fever without fever.

Rat bite fever is a rarely reported acute febrile bacterial illness caused by Streptobacillus moniliformis or Spirillum minus following a rat bite. It is classically characterised by abrupt onset of fever with rigors, myalgias, headache, and the appearance of a generalised maculopapular petechial skin rash. Polyarthritis complicates the course of the disease in up to 50% of infected patients, a...

Rat-bite Fever, Canada

To the Editor: Rat-bite fever was once considered an infection exclusive to children living in poverty; however, dense urban housing and changing pet-keeping practices may be altering this profile (1,2). To date, ≈200 cases of rat-bite fever have been reported in the United States (3), and a recent study reported a 2-fold increased incidence in California during the 1990s (1). We report on 2 ca...

Rat Bite Fever

Last Updated: August 2013 Importance Rat bite fever is a human illness that can be caused by two different bacteria, Streptobacillus moniliformis and Spirillum minus. Although this disease is readily cured with antibiotics, untreated infections are sometimes fatal. Both S. moniliformis and Sp. minus are acquired primarily from rodents, especially rats. At one time, rat bite fever was mainly a h...

Experimental Rat-bite Fever

1. We have confirmed Ogata's results in experimental rat-bite fever caused by the bite of rats. 2. In our experiments with guinea pigs, swelling and congestion of the bitten parts, swelling of the subcutaneous lymph nodes, fever, and loss of weight were the typical symptoms. The progress of the fever was not so regular as in human cases, but we find records in the literature of patients who sho...

[Rat-bite fever].