MEUSE FEVER

The area around the Meuse River was one of the great battlegrounds of World War I during which this louse-borne disease was first recognized in the trenches (called trench fever), again a major problem in the military in World War II, seen endemically in Mexico, N. Africa, E, Europe, and elsewhere. The cause, Rochalimaea quintana, is an unusual rickettsia that multiplies in the gut of the body louse. Transmission to people can occur by rubbing infected louse feces into abraded (scuffed) skin or conjunctiva (whites of the eyes). Onset of symptoms is sudden, with high fever, headache, back and leg pain and a fleeting rash. Recovery takes a month or more. Relapses are common. Also called Wolhynia fever, shin bone fever, quintan fever, five-day fever, His’ disease, His-Werner disease, Werner-His disease.