The Washington times., 1912-08-19
WILL ASK SPECIAL
FUND TO WIPE OUT
PEST|LENT FEVER
Public Health Service Seeks
to Complete Work of
DR.. McClintic.

The death of DR.. T. b. McClintic, of
the Public Health Service, from spot
ted fever. contracted in the Bitter
Root valley Of Montana, may result in
immediate action on a large scale to
stamp out this pestilent fever Dr.
Rupert Blue, surgeon general of the
service, Is expected to ask Congress to
give the service special appropriation
this week to make a new and deter
mined onslaught upon the disease in the
study of which DR.. McClintic lost his
life.
This disease has puzzled the medical
fraternity for years. The fever is older
than the memory Of man, and tales of
it's scourge are borne in legends COM
ing up from the days when only Indians
and their forebears wandered over the
Rocky mountain regious. The disease Is
especially prevalent in Montana and
Idaho, although II has been found in
adjoining States.
Warned of the Scourge.
The first white men who went into
these regious were warned by Indians
Of the scourge. 1t was found that
the localities mentioned by the Indians
were those in which spotted fever is
most prevalent.
The Bitter Root valley is the center,
apparently, from which the disease
has radiated. wild animals are sup
posed to have carried the tick which
is the chief mischief maker.
The germ OF the disease is carried
by the tick. A bite injects the virus
into the animal or person attacked
and the disease makes it's appearance
| shortly.
Definite work on the nature of the
disease and the manner of its trans
/ mission was not begun until ten years
| WilSOn ChnwninR n
| nounced after a six months invesu-
| CATION that wood tick was the car
rier of the disease. The majority of
cases investigated bore histories
showing tick bites the disease was
most prevalent where the most ticks
were found; and the season in which
the fever occurred most often was
that in which ticks were especially
numerous and active.
Transmission BY Tick Bite.
Drs. McCalla and Breston, of Boise.
Idaho, are credited by the late DR.. H.
T. Ricketts, with making the first actual
proof of the transmission of fever by
tick bite. A tick was found on a per-
son infected with fever and was re-
moved and placed on a healthy person.
In eight days typical case OF spotted
fever developed
In 1906 DR.. Ricketts,, then connected
with the University of Chicago, began a
| series of experiments upon guinea pigs
| His experiments, which are regarded
| as classics, showed conclusively that
| the tick bite was the primary cause of
| the disease.
Shortly afterward, DR.. McClintic. a
| comparatively new man in the Public
study of this disease as life work. He
went to Montana and within two
months was bitten by a tick, developing
a mild case of spotted fever. Supposedly
. tic hiyp,i irnf 90
last spring, however, he returned to the
work. He had succeeded in eradicating
most of the ticks. and no case had been
reported in the Bitter Root valley this
| year until he was stricken a second
| time. This time the case was not mild,
and the use of the best methods of cure
failed.
Small Lump Behind Ear.
No mark was found upon DR.. McClin-
tics body to show the avenue of infec-
ton except a small lump behind an ear.
showing where the tick had fastened
itself to gorge itself upon his blood
and to drive the virus of the fatal dis
ease into his veins.
The disease manifests remarkably diff
ferent degrees Of virulence: In Idaho
the death rate Is only from to per
cent In Montana the average rate ap-
pears to be about 20 per cent.
Bitter Root valley is a fertile area,
but its development has been retarded
by the barrier set up against emigrants
by the deadly tick. There is danger
of a further spread of the disease as
commerce with that part of Montana
| increases and on this account the Pub
lie Health Service would be warranted
in asking Congress to take extraordin-
ary measures to stamp out the disease.
There are many more cases found
each year in Idaho than in Montana
but the death rate in Montana far over
tops that of the neighbor State. 1t is
estimated that there are ordinarily about
$50 cases of spotted fever found in these
| two States and contiguous territory.
Outino Is Called Off