Evening star., 1939-01-11

Akin to 1yphus Fever
Virus. cqrried by Dog "
Tick, Not Yet Widespread; !;
D. c. Doctor First Victim
y BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
A hitherto unknown human NAL
ady-X fever-has just been re-
ported to the United States Public
Health Service.
The one victim to date. at least
IN the United States, is a Washing
ton doctor, Public Health Service
employe, who contracted 1t while
handling infected guinea pigs dur
Ing visit to the Governments
Rocky Mountain spotted fever lab
oratory at Hamilton, Mont.
1t is closely related, studies have
shown, but apparently not quite
Identical to an equally mysterious
q" fever recently reported from
Australia among dairy farmers and
workers in slaughterhouses. Both
maladies apparently are in the same
general class with spotted fever,
typhus and other variations of the
same syndrome found around the
world. Both are due to filterable
viruSeS.
The virus of x fever-the single
victim Is designated as K in the
reports carried by the dog tick,
the same insect responsible for
spotted fever, strange form Of
paralysis and various other mala-
dies. 1t has been called "the most
dangerous animal In creation"
Isolated Three Years Ago.
Actually 1t was first isolated three
years ago at the Montana labora-
tory IN the course of routine work
OF securing the spotted fever virus
from the blood of rabbits upon
which the ticks have been allowed
to feed. A number of the rabbits
sickened and died, but the course
OF the malady was not that Of
spotted fever, and the Nitrate from
their blood did not show the GUS
tomary cross immunity reaction with
the virus of this dread disease
or those Of any others of the typhus
family. The @ fever virus is a
possible execution.
Great care was used in handling
the ticks and the infected animals
SO that no human contracted the
disease until the Washington doc
tor visited the laboratory. The NAL
ady did not develop until more
than five weeks later, when he
had returned to his home across
the continent.
During the first few days at home
he noticed sharp pains in his eye
balls and felt more than ordinarily
tired. The third day he developed
q temperature with intermittent
chills. He went to bed and the
chills continued for two days. About
midnight of his second day in bed
the chills ceased abruptly in a
drenching sweat. This was repeat
ed for four nights. but each sweat
was less severe. There followed
pains in the teeth and joints. He
was kept in bed about two weeks
but at no time was dangerously ILL.,
Similarities Revealed.
A f1lterable virus was obtained
from his blood which showed the
cross immunity reaction
with that from the blood Of the
infected animals in Montana. The
symptoms were very similar to those
from Australia for the
victims Of @ fever. The @ virus
and the x virus gave the expected
cross immunities in the blood of
guinea pigs. This indicates that
they are very closely related, Pub
lie Health Service immunologists
claim, but there remain some nota-
BILE differences which distinguish
them as separate diseases.
The incubation period for @ fever,
as reported by the Australian physi-
clans, is about two weeks. The
Washington doctor. however, did not
become sick until about five weeks
after he was infected, about the
longest incubation period for a dis
ease Of this sort on record. Monkeys
have been found susceptible to the
@ virus. They cannot be infected
with x disease. The K virus, Pub
lie Health Service experimenters
have found, is transmitted by ticks
to their offspring in the same way
as is the causative agent Of Rocky
Mountain spotted fever.
Malady May Spread.
There is a possibility, it is pointed
out, that the virus first appeared in
Australia and was introduced to
North America, undergoing some
sort of mutation in its new en-
vironment. Another possibility Is
that it Is a similar mutation of
the spotted fever virus occurring in
both continents at about the same
time with slightly different result
ing organisms.
Up to date the virus has been
found only in one batch of 200
ticks. The probability is that it is
present in very few of these in
sects in nature and that at present
1t is confined to the Rocky Noun
tain area, although 1t may spread
very rapidly once it gets started,
as was the case with spotted fever.
From the reports Of the one case
on record the new malady does not
seem to be as serious as are most
OF the general typhus family. Pub
lie Health Service workers are wor-
ried, however, by the known tenden-
cy Of such organisms to increase in
virulence as time goes on.
McGinness Acquitted
OF enIecf nj Dufv