Rat bite fever misdiagnosed as Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
A patient who had been exposed to ticks and who had also been bitten by a laboratory rat developed fever, headache, and a rash. He was treated with chloramphenicol for Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and recovered. Blood cultures, however, grew Streptobacillus moniliformis, a causative agent of rat bite fever. The case report illustrates the clinical similarities between rat bite fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011906:Rat-Bite Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D012373:Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013288:Streptobacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification