Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-06-27

The Rocky Mountain spotted fever
is responsible for about dozen deaths
annually in Montana and, because the
source Of the infection has been looked
upon as a mystery, much alarm has
been felt. At the same time there is
reason to fear that the disease may
spread. In a milder form it Is known
to occur in other states.
The esta blishment of 6 connection
between this disease and the common
importance upon the study of the tick.
In the light of what is now known re-
garding its responsibility, 1t is appar-
ent that the tick Is the connecting link
between man and the unknown ulti-
mate source OF the sease, and hence
1t Is most desirable to eliminate the
tick. w
The responsibility OF the tick in
mans infection with the Rocky Noun
tain spotted rever in the Bitter Root
Valley was suspected by residents in
the valley before scientists expressed
such an opinion. Nurses and attend
ants had found ticks and tick bites en-
the bodies of the patients and con-
nc cted their prest nee with the act of
injecting the patient.
The opinion that the tick is the
means of mans infection first attract
ed general attention when in 1904
Drs Wilson and Chowning published
the results Of their Investigations con-
Quoted during the summers of 1902
and 1903. These investigators pre-
sented no experimental evidence. stat
ing only the results Of observations
which seemed to give credibility to the
tick transmission theory. They were
| the first to publish this theory and
based their opinions on the facts (a)
that the disease occurs in man only
during the season Of the year when
| adult ticks are known to be active and
when they attack man, and (b) that
1t Is possible to connect nearly every
| case Of the fever with recent tick
bite.
In 1906 Dr. II. T. Ricketts, OF the
University Of Chicago and DIR. w. W.
King OF the Public Health and Ma
rine Hospital Service came into the
field and both not only succeeded in
transmitting the disease to lower ami
mails by injections. but both we're able
to inoculate guinea pigs by the bite of
the tick. The results Of their studies
were published almost simultaneously.
Mr.. j. ]. Moore has very recently
made an important contribution to
our knowledge OF this subject. He has
shown by laboratory experiments that
the minimum duration Of feeding by
an infected tick required for, the in
lection Of a guinea pig Is an hour and
forty-five minutes. The average time
seems to be about ten hours. while
twenty hours were almost invariably
infective.
DR.. Ricketts,, acting under the aus
pieces Of the State Board of Health,
accomplished monumental piece of
work in Montana, and laid the foun-
da.ion for all future efforts toward
control or eradication Of Rocky Noun
tain spotted fever. His work on this
disease is known the world over and
has received Nigh recognition. His
services were rendered without ex-
pectation Of receiving remuneration
and he received none. In the end he
lost his life while conducting what
was really part of the same investi-
CATION. Howard Taylor Ricketts, died
Of typhus fever at Mexico City, Mex
leo, May 8, 1910, at the age OF 80.
while studying that disease. having